Podcasts about termageddon

Introducing Russell Aaron I didn't learn WordPress at a fancy college or career academy. I graduated from the University of YouTube. My internship was the Las Vegas WordPress Meetup and WordCamp Vegas. The rest I learned building mortgage company platforms, working for casinos, inside managed WordPress hosts, and at some of the best WordPress development and support shops on the planet. Show Notes For more on Russell, check out his website: https://russellenvy.com Transcript: Topher DeRosia: All right. Here we go. Hey folks. Russell Aaron: And three, two, one. Topher DeRosia: Hey folks. Welcome to Hallway Chats. I’m Topher, and I’m here with Russell Aaron. I assume I pronounced that right, because it’s not that hard, but you never know. Russell Aaron: You know, so many people call me Aaron. They’ll tag me and they go, “Thanks, Aaron.” And I’m like, “You know, it’s Russell, but it’s cool.” Topher DeRosia: Yeah, nice. All right. Well, I saw a post on LinkedIn the other day from you talking about podcasts having the same people on episodes all the time. I thought, “Oh, I gotta have that guy on my podcast.” Because then you can’t go on any other ever again, because then you’ll be that guy. Russell Aaron: Maybe. Topher DeRosia: So, I snooped a little. You live much closer to me than I expected. Have we met? Did we meet at a WordCamp? Russell Aaron: I think we met at WordCamp Ann Arbor one year. Topher DeRosia: Oh, okay. I went to a whole bunch of those. Russell Aaron: Yeah. I think I spoke 2018, something like that. Topher DeRosia: Yeah. I was probably there. Russell Aaron: Yeah. Topher DeRosia: All right. So tell me where you live, what you do, all that kind of stuff. Russell Aaron: I currently reside in Indianapolis, Indiana, and I am just freelancing as of right now. You know, I live in a pretty small town where it’s kind of old school WordPress, if you will. Anyone who is worth their salt keys will remember a day when websites were not responsive or a business has a cousin of a friend of a brother who builds websites and, “Hey, he’s working on it,” and three years later, there’s still no new website. I kind of live in a town where I’m kind of getting back to my grassroots, where I stay up late at night with my insomnia, and I will roll up to a business and I will say, “Your new website can look like this today. If you pay me this much money, I will install it today, and this is your new website.” And it’s got your updated menu, and it’s responsive, and it works on mobile, and we can connect it to AppPresser and make it an app and stuff like that. So I’m kind of reliving the glory days of what I remember WordPress to be. Topher DeRosia: I’m also freelancing right now, sort of by choice, sort of not by choice. Somebody I’m married to would rather I had regular pay and insurance. Russell Aaron: Heard that. Topher DeRosia: Are you in the same boat, or did you do this on purpose? Russell Aaron: I did this on purpose. I was not working for the man, but I was working with some people. I’m over the tiny little granular things that somebody can fire you over. Like they’re watching if your mouse moves or they’re watching if you haven’t logged in. There’s just no more trust, I feel like, in so many cases. And so I know that I can do things better on my own, and I’m going to. Topher DeRosia: I have to admit, I love the freelance life. It is pretty special. Russell Aaron: Right. It’s almost like… what’s that movie? The 40-Year-Old Virgin, where they are making a website and they’re like, “Hey, Spider-Man 3’s on in five minutes. Let’s go watch it.” Like they totally ignore their job and they just go watch this movie now. It’s kind of like that. Topher DeRosia: Yeah. Yeah. For me, it’s doing stuff with my wife. She has a day job, but it has kind of chaotic hours and not specific days of the week. And so I work when she does, which sometimes is Saturday and Sunday, and then I just don’t on Tuesday and Thursday. That’s pretty great. Russell Aaron: I’m kind of in the same boat. My wife has a wonderful job, and she is with a great group, and she does global advocacy. I mean, she just deals with people that are happy with the product, and she keeps them happy. She does lots of stuff like that. I’m kind of the same thing, where their company is now starting to get into AI, and they have so many questions, and I’m over here building things with AI and doing things like that. So I’m not exactly consulting, but my ideas are going into their company through my wife. Topher DeRosia: My wife works at a grocery store, and they have a cash machine they use in the back office that runs Linux. Russell Aaron: Oh, wow Topher DeRosia: And the IT guys had to come in and do some work on it, and she saw the screen and she’s like, “Oh, is that Linux?” And I’m like, “Who are you, and what do you know?” Super nerd. So what’s your company name? Do you have one, or is it just WP Pro Support? Russell Aaron: WP Pro Support. Topher DeRosia: WP Pro Support. Okay. Do you concentrate more on support, or do you build more? Russell Aaron: I have been doing support since 2011. I formed my very first support company, and I launched it the same day that Shane Sanderson launched Maintainn. My buddy, who you might know, John Hawkins, I was at the Vegas WordPress Meetup Group, and I had the idea in Vegas WordPress Meetup Group where there’s 70 people sitting right here behind me and they all want help. And I was like, “How do I do this?” So I built my first thing where I gave everybody free-for-life support, and they were my test group, if you will. And they helped me work out my bugs and tickets, and they helped me work out how I actually operate and do stuff like that. Then when I launched it, literally that day, John goes, “Wait, have you seen this?” And we had no idea about each other, but we literally launched them the same day. Fast forward three years down the road, I ended up working for Maintainn when it was owned by WebDevStudios. But everything I’ve done in WordPress has been support, whether I’ve worked for a mortgage company, a casino in Vegas, hosting with Liquid Web, doing stuff with NerdPress or AppPresser. Everything I’ve done is support. That’s really where my passion is because I remember what it’s like being a first timer. I think that there is a huge market potential here of people are always going to be new. I don’t care who you are. There’s always somebody new walking in the door, and there has to be a person who will sit down and say, “Come here, I’ll hold your hand.” And I am that person. I always try to look at WordPress from that lens is if a new person is looking at this today, are they going to be happy? Are they going to be confused? And I go from there. So currently today I’m transitioning away from support as we know it, where you write a ticket and then somebody on the other end is like, “Hey, I fixed your site,” or whatever. And I’m transitioning to a new product that I’m working on. So I’m going to be getting away from traditional support, but I’m still going to be doing things in the support space, if that makes sense. Topher DeRosia: Yeah, that makes sense. When I first got into WordPress, it was 2010, and custom post types were brand new. Russell Aaron: Right? Topher DeRosia: And I was out of my element with WordPress. I did not know what I was doing, but I did know PHP, and no one else knew post types yet. So when it comes to that, I was on an equal footing, and that was my way in. That was my leverage. I made a lot of money in the early days just building custom post types. Russell Aaron: Custom post types and single-posttype.php or whatever. Yeah. Topher DeRosia: So I was a competent PHP guy who didn’t know WordPress. And I feel like we’re in kind of the same transition space right now with AI, where we have tons of competent WordPressers who don’t really know AI yet. I think there’s a great space for that, teaching our friends, teaching everybody we’ve known for 10 years in WordPress. You know what I mean? Russell Aaron: I do. That’s one of the things that I really love about WordPress is that… let’s take the new 7.0 that just came out, I think it re-leveled the playing field. Before this came out, there were people that were ahead of others when it comes to patterns or blocks or the command palette and stuff like that. But now I think with this, we’re back to an even playing field because every… I mean, not exactly. There’s still some people who know AI a lot better than others, but you’re always five minutes ahead of somebody and five minutes behind somebody else. Topher DeRosia: Oh, yeah. Russell Aaron: But I do think that with 7.0, a new level playing field has come out. And now is the time to start learning, or you got to wait until 7.1 comes out where that new level playing field comes out. But that’s what I love about WordPress is that it continues to happen. Like you said, CPTs. I still love CPTs. I think they’re one of my favorite things. I look at all of these features, you know, page builders, another time when the playing field was leveled again. Now you learn page builders and then shortcodes and then this and then that. I think that’s the one gift that WordPress keeps giving is that you might be out of date six months from now, but then 7.1 comes out and you’re caught right back up. Topher DeRosia: Right. Yeah. And while you’re five minutes ahead, you quick do a WordCamp talk. Russell Aaron: Yes. Yeah. Topher DeRosia: For that long, you know more than other people, right? Russell Aaron: At least it’s on video, right? Topher DeRosia: Right. I was an expert for a minute and a half. Russell Aaron: That was my 15 minutes of fame. Topher DeRosia: What is your WordCamp life like these days? When was the last one you went to? Russell Aaron: The last one I went to was in Vegas, 2018. It was at the Plaza Hotel, which I worked at. When John was putting that together, in Vegas we had a wonderful space, and it was called The Innevation Center, and it was at a data facility called Switch. And they donated so much to us, and we are so grateful to them. And then they kind of had a change in their policy where they weren’t doing things, and then they overpriced how much it would cost to hold events and stuff like that. I was working at a hotel, and so we had this giant convention space, if you will. And so because I was able to pull some strings, we got a great, great discount, all food paid for. I mean, all of it. So that was my last WordCamp. The after party was on top of a pool deck, and there was pickleball courts, and there was a pool, and there was an open bar. I mean, it was rad. That was my last one. I have kids now. My kids are seven and eight and so my WordPress travels have slowed. No, I’m sorry. I take it back. WordCamp US last year was my last one, where we went scorched earth. That’s what I call it. I call it WordCamp scorched earth. Topher DeRosia: I was there for that one. I used to go to a lot every year. Go to- Russell Aaron: Five, six? Topher DeRosia: Five and 10. But since COVID, I think maybe just US every year. It’s weird to just go to one. Russell Aaron: It is. And just US, it’s almost like we used to have what I used to call regional events, where I lived in Vegas, I would hit up WordCamp Orange County, then I’d hit up San Diego, then we’d hit up LA, and then we’d make our way up to Portland, and then maybe if San Francisco did one, and then Phoenix. I did all my regional stuff. And then every once in a while I would venture… I mean, I love WordCamp Minneapolis. Love the people up there. Love so much about that event. Used to do that a lot. What’s the one in Ohio that I used to go to? Topher DeRosia: In the teens, there were five in Ohio. And being in Michigan, I used to just cruise down there. Russell Aaron: It’s a three-hour, three-and-a-half-hour drive, huh? Topher DeRosia: Yeah. Russell Aaron: About that. Yeah. Topher DeRosia: At the time, I was working for a company that was paying me to go to WordCamps. I had to make the case for each one, but it was a really simple case for all the Ohio ones because I didn’t need a plane ticket. I just drive over there. It’s like five in Ohio. There was Ann Arbor, there was Detroit, there was Grand Rapids, there was Chicago. I mean, there was almost 10 WordCamps within a three-hour drive of me. Russell Aaron: That’s beautiful. Topher DeRosia: It’s just not there anymore. Russell Aaron: I was very fortunate to work for companies like WebDevStudios, where I could tell them, “Hey, I got into WordCamp Minneapolis. I’m going to speak there.” And because I’m speaking there, they would reimburse me X amount of dollars for something, and then they would sponsor the WordCamp, and then they would make a thing out of it. I mean, I was very fortunate in being able to do that. Then I worked with a really great company called NerdPress, and they are a fantastic group of people that do the same thing. And then I ventured out into different straits, and it was very much different. I’ll say that much. Topher DeRosia: Yeah. Those are good times. Russell Aaron: It’s almost like… the way that I put it is it’s like we all graduated. We all did our four years of college, we all graduated, and now we went to our temp jobs or we went to our internships. Like the band broke up. Topher DeRosia: Yep. Yeah, it is a lot like that. I have seen generations of WordPressers. There was all the crew before 2010 that were downloading zip files and hacking themes to even get them to run. Then there was after 2010, and custom post types were new and stuff. And then there’s the whole Gutenberg generation that never experienced all that crazy theme stuff. Russell Aaron: I mean, you tell people that child themes were so new that people didn’t even grasp the concept of a child theme, and today it’s so baked in. It’s not even something that people think about. It’s just you install this and the child theme, and it’s a thing. But I remember writing those by hand. Topher DeRosia: Yeah. No kidding. Then to a certain extent, not even having child themes anymore because nothing is stored on the file system. Russell Aaron: I love it. I love it. In my very first WordCamp talk in Vegas 2012, I made a prediction that everything was powered by the theme. Everything used to… I mean, that’s as far as I go back is every template was the same. It was left column, right sidebar, header, and every page, whether you liked it or not, looked like a blog post. And it wasn’t full-width, responsive. I remember a lot of that. And then corporate themes came out, and then cupcake themes came out, then lawn company themes came out, and then the rise of Envato and stuff like that. That’s a good name for a band, The Rise of Envato. Topher DeRosia: I’d go see them. Russell Aaron: But all that stuff comes out. And then you look at it now and it’s like, that seems so far away. I still remember the day that I learned about child themes, and I’ve never forgotten that. And I think, coming back full circle, that’s why I stay in this beginner support space because I’m kind of keeping that nostalgia around, I guess. Topher DeRosia: Yeah. There’s a lot of joy in watching people’s eyes light up when they get it. Russell Aaron: That’s the best part is just telling people what’s possible. When they’re frustrated with something and you go, “Oh, hey, Gravity Forms can do that.” And they’re like, “Wait, what?” And I’m like, “Yeah.” And they can also do… And I just start naming stuff. And I show all 50 extensions that they have and they’re just like, “Wait, what?” And I’m like, “Yeah.” I’m like, “This starts getting radical when you’re into it.” Topher DeRosia: There’s something I miss from old WordPress that I don’t see in modern WordPress. It might not be a thing. And that is dramatic new styling with a theme the instant you install it. My wife is not a computer person and does not care about computers. She loves design stuff. There was a time we used Winamp. Russell Aaron: Wow. Topher DeRosia: And she loved getting skins for Winamp. And she would download 30 in a day and try them all out. And then when I set her up for the blog the first time and showed her the theme repo on .org, this is in 2011, she would literally spend a day just downloading theme after theme after theme. Russell Aaron: Same way. Topher DeRosia: And you just install it and poof, your site looks amazingly different. These days, I mean, you install something like Kadence or GeneratePress or Ollie or any of them, really, and it’s kind of a blank canvas. Russell Aaron: It’s very minimalist. It’s very minimalist. Topher DeRosia: I miss the ability to say, “I feel like making a change today,” and two minutes later, your site looks completely different because you’re using… Russell Aaron: Couldn’t agree more. Couldn’t agree more. I mean, I look back at old pictures from when I would host the meetup group in Vegas, and there’s pictures of me talking, and then on the screen behind me is my old site, and it was this old layout. I bought the theme from Envato because I was just fascinated with it. It was everything that I wanted it to look like. But same thing is now when you change your theme from this one to that one, that dark grunge kind of thing is gone, and now you’ve got this bootstrap-looking thing or whatever. I agree with you. I think that comes from my days of being in MySpace. That’s how I got started with all this. So you could change your MySpace template like that, and I think that’s where it comes from, at least for me. Topher DeRosia: I haven’t even looked into it. Can you make a Gutenberg-based blog theme that has a very striking look and just release it? And then, I don’t know, just release a whole bunch of them like in the old days? Theme shops had 35 themes for sale, and they all looked different because they were all totally different themes. Russell Aaron: I remember there was a day on Envato where it was the same theme, it was just rebranded. So it was like theme name 1.0, and it was called Atlas. And then it’s the same theme but in orange, and now it’s 1.2, and it’s called Dungeon or something. And then we have 1.3 again. Same theme, same framework, but each version was named something different. It made that developer look like they had five different products instead of just one over and over. Now you look at something like a page builder, and it’s like, “We’ve got 500 different templates in one thing.” I can’t do that. I think that’s too much for me. Topher DeRosia: It’s like the days of the CSS Zen Garden. Russell Aaron: Right. Topher DeRosia: HTML is the same, CSS changes. Before I used WordPress, I built my own blog system. Russell Aaron: Oh, wow. Topher DeRosia: It never got super advanced, but I used it for 10 years. One of the things you can do in your HTML is register alternate stylesheets. It’s the same tag, it’s just an alternate word in there. And then in Firefox, at least, you can go under “view Page Style”, and they would all be listed there, and you can just choose different themes. I figured out the JavaScript, even though I didn’t know JavaScript. I figured out the JavaScript to make a little dropdown box in my sidebar so my visitors could say, “Oh, I want to change my theme here.” I never figured out how to do that in WordPress because everything was so tied to style.css. I didn’t know how to make a different one be the main one. But that’s something else I miss in WordPress is the ability to just so dramatically and dynamically change your design because your content is structured so well. Russell Aaron: You know, not only that, but I really liked the websites where there was a demo, and then it gave you a basic username. The username was demo, the password was demo. But then the one thing I never figured out was how every 24 hours the site would just reset. So somebody can go in there and they could do whatever they wanted to do. They could create their own pages. They could create their own blog posts. And for 24 hours, there was a page called Russell’s Awesome. But then after 24 hours, it would just reset. I always thought that was so cool, but I could never figure out how to do that. Topher DeRosia: Oh, yeah. And everybody was editing all at the same time, within that 24-hour period. Russell Aaron: I have since restructured my website. I use the block theme from WebDevStudios. I kind of feel like that’s where I got my education from. I was somebody who kind of dabbled around in WordPress, and then when I went to go work with them for three years, they had a set of standards that I couldn’t even fathom to begin with. But then as we built things and I saw how their machine works, how their business revolves, I was like, “You know, for me, this is the way that I like to do things, is the way that they like to do things.” And so my new website… I mean, not new website, but it’s my new theme, I actually had AI build it for me. I had Claude. I was using… It’s by ThemeIsle. Neve. I was using Neve, one of my favorite themes. Love them. So I was using that, and then my site was kind of all over the place. It was an “I’ll teach you how to do this”. That’s kind of the main focus of my site is I will jump on a call with you, and whatever questions you have, I’ll sit here for five hours with you if you want. I will teach you and until you get it. But then I also had this section about band names that were just… earlier when we were talking about the rise of Envato, you know, like I would have a section on my blog where you could create a new band name and then I had all these random blog posts. And so my website was kind of like this potluck, if you will, just like this random stuff. And I was like, you know, I want to be doing something else. I think my website needs to change. And I have those old blog posts still, but they’re hidden. So now with my new theme, I had AI look at my old site and say, this is what I think we should do. I picked out some colors and over like five days, I had it build me five different HTML pages, like completely different, you know? And then I started giving AI and I said like, “Okay, I want to look like this.” And then I was like, well, okay, I like this and I like this, but I also like this from this other site.” So I started feeding it information and like when the HTML came out, I had 12 different templates. I had my blog posts, I had my archive, but I had everything built in HTML. And the cool thing about the WDS block theme is that it serves everything as an HTML page. So I literally just took AI and said, “Take these HTML pages, bake them into how this theme does it,” and bam, my site came up. I had it done in maybe two days. Topher DeRosia: Wow. Russell Aaron: And then after that, I had it take all of those HTML pages and create me patterns. So now I can go in, and when I go into my full site editor, I can go to patterns, I have all my homepage patterns, my blog patterns, I sliced everything up, and they’re all WordPress native blocks. So I can literally go in and change the coloring on any page I want instead of having to edit the HTML or anything. And now that I have that, I feel this sense of freedom where I’m not worrying about an update coming tomorrow, if my update is gonna break or I don’t have to read a changelog that is not specific anymore. I can’t stress how much I love not having to read changelogs or the lack of changelogs. I mean, I’m fully happy with how things have come out. And over time, I’m gonna keep fine-tuning it, but I’m pretty much where I’m at right now. With all of this new technology that’s come out, I’ve really kind of found my love again for WordPress. I was kind of in a slump where I just wasn’t really doing anything. Now I take my son and we’ll drive down to Louisville, Kentucky. He rides BMX. So while he’s racing, I will literally have Claude Code open on my computer and I will log into the Claude app on my phone and I can keep sitting there having the same conversation. So this new thing that I’m building, I can still do it while I’m sitting there watching him race or while I’m doing something else. I was just like, this is fantastic. And then my wife will drive home and I’ll just sit there and I talk into my phone, I literally put the microphone on and I’ll be like, “You know, I don’t like that. And here’s my thoughts about this.” And you know, my phone dictates all of that and then I send it to my computer through the app and it just keeps spinning things up. Then by the time I get home, I have a new version that I can demo or I have a new version that I can test. I mean, I am just so fascinated by it. Topher DeRosia: That’s cool. Were we at WebDev at the same time? Russel Aaron: I don’t think so. Topher DeRosia: I was there just over three years ago. Russel Aaron: I was there 2015 through 2018. Topher DeRosia: Oh, yeah. I came much later. I was only there for like two months. Russell Aaron: Oh, wow. Sometimes that’s the way it goes. Topher DeRosia: Yeah. They were gonna get a big contract that hired a bunch of people and two months later didn’t get the contract and let us all go. Russell Aaron: As much as I hate that, that also taught me that the people that do great work or the people that show up every day and are putting in more than they’re getting out, those are usually the people that stay in companies like that. That really changed my work ethic. I used to be somebody who wanted to be not lazy, but I didn’t wanna be pressed for time or having to go, go, go and having to be on all the time. Now, I’m the opposite. Now, I’m like, now that I’ve done that, I kind of earn for that stretch for a little bit. I mean, you were just saying that how you’ve transitioned to where you are. I was watching a Barstool Sports interview with a guy who runs a pizza shop in… it’s either New Jersey or New York. The guy’s only open Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. And he’s only open nine to six or something like that. And he built that business… well, it’s been in his family for like 60 years or something. He has one of the last original pizza ovens ever. But anyways, the point is, is that he lives at the pizza place, that’s where his entire life is, but he built the business around his life. I’m doing the same thing where if I wanna literally go jump on my bike right now and go for a two-mile ride, I’m gonna go do that. And I don’t have to feel like, hey, you’re not logged in and we’re not tracking your mouse. Like what’s happening? How come you’re not on Slack? You know what I mean? I’m not tied down to that. And I can’t stress that enough of like, that is where I wanna be. Topher DeRosia: Yeah. Yeah, it is a good life. We are at about the time to wrap it up. Okay. So I’m gonna do that. Where do you hang out online? Russel Aaron: Where do I hang out online? Topher DeRosia: Are you in any common WordPress Slacks? Russel Aaron: I’m on the main WordPress Slack sometimes. I tend to watch more than I do involve anymore. A long time ago, I used to be very vocal and I used to be not afraid to walk in to a room guns blazing. With the big cultural shift that happened in WordPress, I tend to just sit back now and be more self-reserved. So I post on my website, russellenvy.com. I’m on LinkedIn. I’ve been utilizing Reddit a lot too. I think for me, Reddit is a place where I kind of disagree with the fact that you can hide behind a pseudonym, but I do like the brutal honesty that people will have because they are hiding behind something and they will say, dude, this flat out sucks. Or they’ll be like, Hey, this is great, but it would be cool if, or somebody can be like, “Hey, that already exists. You’re not doing anything new.” I do like that. Because it kind of not puts me in my place, but it shows me either how connected or disconnected I am to what I think I’m doing. And so Reddit is a very great place. I mean, everything is russellenvy.com except for Twitter or X, whatever you want to call it. Topher DeRosia: All right, cool. Russel Aaron: Where do you hang out at? Topher DeRosia: I am in probably 40 slacks, but the vast majority of them, I don’t look at. I’m there so that someone can ping me. I’m in a couple of slacks in India. Okay. I’m in the WordPress Italian community Slack. Russel Aaron: That’s interesting. Topher DeRosia: Post status make, of course there’s a hero press Slack. I have my own company Slack, my local meetup has a Slack. There’s just a lot of them. I wouldn’t say I’m super active on any of them. I just occasionally interact with somebody. I use my own company Slack to invite my clients in when we talk there. Russel Aaron: Right. Do you find yourself reading things more than, you know… from the outsider looking in, I post a lot and it looks like I post a lot… I mean, especially on LinkedIn, but I’m always consuming more than I’m posting. Do you find yourself doing that? Like where you’re… maybe not keeping up with the trades anymore, but like, you know… I used to read maybe 1,500 blog posts a week and then… what was that service where you could like save…? I used to have a service where you could save articles and then that way, late at night, I would just read, you know, maybe 10 or 15 of them a night. But now I look at things like Reddit where I see… I just look at somebody who’s going on there and asking for help. Again, it’s a standard WordPress person that, hey, I’m new to this, I don’t know how, and I’m looking at it and I’m just like, how can we make that better? That’s kind of where I’m at these days. Topher DeRosia: I don’t read a whole lot in Slack. It really is for my convenience. I’m pretty active with my RSS reader. I follow a lot of stuff. Russell Aaron: Oh, wow. Topher DeRosia: Because I don’t wanna go chase it all down all over the internet. So, you know, there’s that. I’m on LinkedIn a fair amount, Facebook a little bit. I’m on Mastodon and Blue Sky mostly just to post stuff. It’s funny, I have more followers… No, let me say it this way. Mastodon, I have the fewest followers, but the most engagement from those followers. Russell Aaron: Isn’t that interesting? Topher DeRosia: Yeah, I’ll post something and I’ll get some favorites or reposts or whatever. Blue Sky, I get almost nothing at all, despite the fact that I have like a thousand followers there. Russell Aaron: But Blue Sky is a community that is fast-moving. I almost compare it to anything Meta has, which is you can post today right now and in three minutes you’re 785 posts down. That’s what I really love about Reddit is that I posted something about this AI team that I’m building that I give away for free on GitHub, and so for like five days, I was the number two post on that subreddit. And the volume that I saw from that. I mean, Reddit really loves human writing. If you go in there, you post something that somewhat seemingly might suggest that you had AI do anything with it, they will just downvote it. But if you write original and you write from the heart and stuff, like your stuff skyrockets there. I’ve learned a lot from Reddit because of that. Topher DeRosia: That’s really cool. Russell Aaron: It’s interesting. Topher DeRosia: Yeah. All right, well, thanks for chatting with me. Russell Aaron: Thank you for the time. Topher DeRosia: And now you can’t be on anybody else’s podcast. Russell Aaron: I’m actually starting my own, sir. Topher DeRosia: Are you? All right. Russell Aaron: I have, like you said, the reason why we started this is because you saw something from me that says, “I’m tired of the indie circuit,” if you will. I put out a LinkedIn post, I don’t know, maybe a month ago at this point and I asked people if they wanted to be on a show. So I have WP Roundtable. I got that from Kyle Mahler, a person who I love in WordPress more than I can express. One of the best people on the planet, I feel like. I was thinking about starting that up again, because we don’t have WP Watercooler anymore. We don’t have anything like that. That’s kind of where I got my start from. But again, I also identify that that’s kind of the problem is that every Monday or Friday I was on a show and I was one of the people that you would see constantly. And so I was sitting there thinking and I was like, what doesn’t the space have? What kind of show do I wanna watch? Because I don’t watch shows when they come out, do you? Topher DeRosia: No. Russell Aaron: I always watch them maybe four weeks down the road at like 2:30 in the morning when I have nothing going on. And by that point, the information is almost stale. I mean, the way that anything works these days. And there’s a few that I might watch maybe within 48 hours of coming out, but at this point, there is something… a new idea that myself and… the guy’s actually an automatician. And so it’s actually kind of interesting because we don’t wanna say anything that would put him in a position to where he’s saying something bad about the company he works for, but I’m also the person where I get to say something to the person who works at Automattic to maybe incite some change. So we are working on something like that, but it’s not going to be an interview show. It is not going to be something where you tune it out or you put it on a 2.5 playback speed just to get through it. You know what I mean? And that’s really what the emphasis of my post was about is that so many of the interviews go that way. Topher DeRosia: Yeah. Are you familiar with wppodcasts.com? Russell Aaron: Yes. Topher DeRosia: Okay, good. So when you get it started up, submit it there. Russell Aaron: That’s a place. I’m very fascinated by Gary Vaynerchuk. Are you familiar with Gary V? Topher DeRosia: No. Russell Aaron: I watch something Gary V every day. That guy makes me feel like I’m lazy every single day, but he is also one of the people that says like, “Hey, you’re 40, you’re still just a baby.” A lot of people feel like I should be two kids, a house, marriage, this, that, and because I’m not, I’m behind the ball. And he’s one person that’s like, “Listen, you’re still a kid.” And he’s like, “You’re 40, I’m 40, and you have 10 years until you’re 50.” And even then you’re still so young to where you can generate something again and from 50 to 60, you can now do. That kind of mentality really moved me around. Why I bring that up is, I’m trying not to post on the same places that everybody else is. I wanna find that new venture. Substack is a great one. And they also have a way to release podcast episodes through them. So they can actually be your entire engine. So like you don’t have to host them on different places and stuff like that. So I’m looking for different plays like that. Topher DeRosia: All right, cool. Well, I look forward to hearing about it when it comes out. I’m sure you’ll post on LinkedIn. Russell Aaron: Yes, yeah. Topher DeRosia: All right. All right then, well, I will maybe find you on Slack or Reddit or someplace. Russell Aaron: Slack, Reddit, LinkedIn. Either way, please keep in touch. First of all, it’s great to see somebody familiar in the space. It’s great. I mean, just talking about the old days, I could sit here and do it forever. Topher DeRosia: All right, I’ll see ya. Russell Aaron: Have a good one. Topher DeRosia: All right, so that was the end of the podcast. If you could send me a headshot. And yep, that’s the one. Cool. And any links you want in the liner notes. Russell Aaron: Cool. Topher DeRosia: And two or three sentences about you and what you do and whatnot. Russell Aaron: Cool. I noticed that you… are you trying to revive Hallway Chats? Or is it something that when you just find something interesting, you’re like, hey, I’ll go do that. Topher DeRosia: That’s it right there. Russell Aaron: Okay. Sure, sure. Topher DeRosia: There was a time when it was a weekly podcast and now it’s a whenever I feel like it podcast. Russell Aaron: I love it. I think that’s the biggest reason why I’m trying to do something different is I really dislike watching a podcast. The first thing they do is they come on and they go, “Hey, welcome to WP whatever. Hey, sorry we didn’t post this week. I was bit…” If you are gonna say you’re gonna post every Wednesday at one, that’s on you. But I do not like when things start off with an apology. Like just get to it. Because I’m not watching it Wednesday at one. I mean, unless you’re Joe Rogan, or unless you are somebody who has a huge following that people will watch you live because it’s important. Otherwise, it’s just consumable stuff, you know? Topher DeRosia: Yeah. For years, I posted it Heropress weekly on Wednesday without fail. I would ignore my family to go get it done. Then I was talking to Morton Rand Hendrickson. You know him? Russell Aaron: Uh-huh. Topher DeRosia: Yeah, he’s a huge fan of Heropress. And I said to him, “Do you read every week?” He’s like, “Oh no, not at all.” He’s like, “Oh, I thought you really liked it.” And he said, “Oh, I love it. But I don’t have time to read every week.” Every few months I’ll get depressed about the WordPress community and I’ll go read 10 essays. And then one time I was at WordCamp Ann Arbor, probably the same one you were at and Josepha came to me and said that… she was kind of a sounding board for employees that come to her and said, “Listen, I’ve been working support all day and people suck and I’m depressed and I hate life.” And she would just listen for a while and then at the end they would say, “Okay, I’m gonna go read a bunch of Heropress and I’ll feel better.” And it really changed my perspective of what I was making. I wasn’t making a weekly publication. I was making an archive, a collection to be used as a tool, a library. Russell Aaron: I’m gonna say this poorly, but it’s almost like you are creating a support help hotline where it’s like, if you’re on the verge of blowing up your website, please call this number. We’ll talk you down from it. It’s almost like you’re building that. Topher DeRosia: That’s funny. Russell Aaron: That’s interesting. And then now you’re just selective about it or you’re so far- Topher DeRosia: I’m less aggressive about finding essayists and less insistent that they get it to me by a certain time. Like I would find somebody and say, listen, I need it by Sunday on this date. And they were like, “Okay.” And that worked for a while. Russell Aaron: Oh, before, before. Okay. Topher DeRosia: Yeah. But now I’ll find somebody… No, I don’t go looking as often. Russell Aaron: You’ll maybe find something that somebody wrote and you’ll be like, “Hey, are you interested in doing this?” Topher DeRosia: Yes. And I don’t find people as often. I used to find my people on Twitter and I’m not on there anymore. Russell Aaron: Like by personal choice? Topher DeRosia: Yeah. Russell Aaron: Okay. Topher DeRosia: I just left Twitter. Russell Aaron: Oh, wow. You feel like your life improved? Topher DeRosia: Yes and no. Russell Aaron: Okay. Topher DeRosia: I feel the loss of what Twitter was. And it’s not there anymore. It’s just gone. Russell Aaron: Especially around WordCamp and stuff like that. That used to have to be the place that you’d be on, you know? Topher DeRosia: The Twitter I loved doesn’t exist anymore. And so, yeah, I feel that loss. Russell Aaron: I need a t-shirt that says that. Topher DeRosia: Yeah. Wow. I’m in the process of making a printable store. Printable? Printful. Printful store. Russell Aaron: Cool. Topher DeRosia: With Woo, to make a video with. I need to make a bunch of products. Maybe I’ll make one of those. Russell Aaron: It’s interesting. Wow. You just flat-out left X. Do you feel like with Heropress, it was… and again, this is why I made that post, is that people almost see it like they can make the rounds. And it’s like, well, I haven’t gone there yet. And so they’re gonna submit something to you because they’re gonna get some press out of it. And it’s not so much what’s best for your brand or it’s not best for your website. They just see it as, well, I’m gonna get some exposure there. Do you feel like it used to be that? Topher DeRosia: No. I’ve gotten maybe two or three submissions ever like that. And a couple of them, I was able to say, “No, that’s not what we’re about. It’s this other thing, what Heropress is actually about.” And they’re like, “Oh, well, okay, that’d be great.” And they do that. And maybe one or two people have said, “I built this great company and everyone should come use my company.” Like, no, not so much. Russell Aaron: Interesting. Topher DeRosia: And that’s the end of it. Russell Aaron: I remember back in, I wanna say like 2013, people used to call each other out and be like, why are you giving the same speech at WordCamp Miami, WordCamp Minneapolis, WordCamp San Diego. And that’s kind of where I was at with that same LinkedIn post. It’s like, I really, really enjoy watching Matt Cromwell’s show, but the guy that he just had on also was on Jonathan Denwood and was also on this one. It was also on, I was like, I’ve already seen this. Maybe I get three more percent information that wasn’t in that last, or because Matt knows a little bit more about personal stuff in WordPress or building a business, he might have some more insight there, but it’s like, I’ve already heard this and I’m kind of already over it. And that’s kind of where I was at is you don’t have to just say, I’m gonna do this one and that’s it. But it’s almost like, you’re making yourself not… what’s the word. Not credible because you’re going around and saying the same thing and it’s just, you’re not doing anything different than a blog post could have done. Topher DeRosia: You know what I mean? I don’t feel too bad about repeating WordCamp talks because, especially at small camps, because a lot of people are just gonna go to their local camp and never go to another one. And unless they cruise.tv, they’re not gonna see it. I struggle a little bit with podcasts because I’ve been asked a lot over the last 10 years to come on a podcast and talk about the story of WordPress. And it’s the same story every time, you know? And so, I’ll try to mix it up a little bit, give different information that I’ve never given before, that sort of thing. But it is something I think about and struggle with a little bit. Russell Aaron: What do you struggle with about it? Topher DeRosia: I don’t wanna just say the same thing over and over again. You know, I don’t want people to go, oh, Topher’s on another podcast episode. Oh, I’ve heard this story. I don’t need to be on this episode. Fortunately, it’s been around long enough that I can give a brief synopsis of the beginning and talk about stuff that’s happened in the last couple of years. Russell Aaron: Right. Topher DeRosia: Which is gonna be really different from the podcast episode I was on in 2020. Russell Aaron: You know? Right. Topher DeRosia: It’s an interesting dilemma when you have one story to tell and everybody wants you to tell it. How do you deal with that? Russell Aaron: Well, I’ve noticed that too. It is like, you know, I’ll watch [Insert Famous Name Here], and they have a podcast, and they’re interviewing, again, [Insert Famous Name Here], and that person was also just on That Famous Name and That Famous Name. I actually saw somebody, it’s like almost a year ago, and they were just like, “Do you want me just to say this so your show has this speech in it or are you genuinely asking me?” Because, you know, like you want this story so you can post it on your social media. But I’ve already given that story 15 different times because they wanted it for their own, you know? And it’s almost going that way where I kind of respect it in a way because you don’t want to post other people’s content. But I also feel like I’m tired of saying the same shit over and over again. It’s interesting, man. Topher DeRosia: Yeah, that’s a dilemma. Russell Aaron: So you’re just like kicking back and… are you building something for you that you think is gonna scale or are you trying to get away from WordPress? That’s kind of where I’m at right now. Topher DeRosia: Yes and no. I have always wanted to… I’ve always been better with people than code. I’m a life coach. Russell Aaron: Yeah. I did not know that about you. Topher DeRosia: I love talking to the client more than coding. I love helping people learn things. And so those skills could be anywhere in WordPress, but also could be anywhere outside of WordPress. So I’m looking for those jobs and they are not out there. Russell Aaron: Right. Topher DeRosia: So here we are. Russell Aaron: I’m to the point now where my son, he’s eight, but he races BMX, like actual bikes and stuff. And so there’s a college here in Indianapolis and it’s one of the best cycling schools in the country. And there’s like five Olympians that practice every Tuesday and Thursday and they’re right in our back door. These are people that have a great social following, but they don’t post very well. They have a brand name, but they don’t have a website. So I’m noticing that every new space that I go into, it’s kind of like I get to jump back into WordPress again, where it’s like, hey, I just built a website for this BMX track in Louisville, Kentucky. It’s one of the best tracks in the country by everybody that has ever raced in a sport, they all vote that it’s one of the best, but they don’t have a website period. I just went through this where they have a guy, he’s their treasurer and he’s like, “Well, I’m an AI software guy.” And I’m like, “Well, how come you don’t have a website?” And he’s like, “Well…” And I’m like, “Listen, I submitted a new version of a we… literally, I uploaded it to my Russell website or to my Russell Envy site and I just put it in a sub-folder and I was like, “Your website could look like this today.” I was like, “For free. I don’t want anything from you. No free anything.” I was like, “I want to donate this to you because I want to grow the sport.” And the guy’s like, “I wanted to build it and React.” And I’m like, “Well, why didn’t you?” And the guy’s like, “Uh.” And I’m like, “I have free hosting for life from WPEngine.” And I was like, “I won’t charge you guys ever. I will host a site. I have free with AppPresser. I’ll build you guys an app where you guys can send push notifications.” And the guy’s like, “Well, I want to have a lot of control and say over it.” And I was just like, “All right, you know what?” And then I built my own. Now I own a domain all about their BMX track and now they’re calling me going, “We should have went with you.” I’m to the point now where I’m nice. And then it’s just like, “Dude, I’m 10,000 miles over you and I’m going to go this way.” Liquid Web did that to me. Liquid Web brought me in and they were like, “We’re going to…” I was supposed to be the OG stellar WP. They brought me in, I was hiring all my friends and I was bringing in people and we were building something. And then they called me and they were like, “Well, you can either be a level two support person or you could just not work here.” And I was like, “Well, I don’t work here anymore.” And they were like, “Well, wait, hang on.” And I literally hit “click” and I have never logged on since. Topher DeRosia: That’s funny. Russell Aaron: I’m in that same boat where, you know, I don’t have to work for you. You know what I mean? Like, fuck, I’m 40. I should be doing something on my own anyway. I kind of wish I had… what was WP 101? Sean did that for all those years. I wish I would have done that. Or every week, I should have had some YouTube about talking about something and maybe I could have monetized that, but I’m not behind the ball. I let the ball slip is what I feel like. Topher DeRosia: It’s not too late to start. I picked that up when Sean, quit and I’ve got a YouTube channel with a bunch of stuff on it. I published one today. Russell Aaron: Oh wow. It’s just interesting things that you think about, or is it like educational, like tutorials? Topher DeRosia: It’s educational tutorials, but stuff that I find interesting. Like today I made a desktop wallpaper for WordCamp Europe. Russell Aaron: Nice. Topher DeRosia: And I did it by going to their webpage in my browser and using the console to hack the HTML and CSS until it looked like a screen, a wallpaper. Russell Aaron: That’s fucking cool. Topher DeRosia: So I published it right before I’d started talking to you, like minutes before that. And it has three views. Russell Aaron: Woohoo. Topher DeRosia: But a couple of weeks ago I did one called fun and games in the terminal. And it’s how to play Tetris in the terminal and how to make a choo-choo train go across your screen when you type LS wrong. And it has 784 views right now. Russell Aaron: That’s awesome. Topher DeRosia: I did one on how to brighten a photo. I did a series. I’m working on a series called Topher learns how, or I talk to people who know how to do things that I really should know how to do, but don’t. I talked to Scott Kingsley Clark about pods, which has been around forever, but I’ve never used. I talked to Donata about Termageddon, because I know it’s important, but I have stayed away because I don’t understand and it’s scary. Russell Aaron: Termageddon. I’ve never heard that. Topher DeRosia: Oh. You know the little cookie consent things, privacy policies and whatnot? Russell Aaron: Yeah. Topher DeRosia: So when you sign up with term again, you pay a surprisingly low monthly fee and they have a human get on the phone with you and talk through your requirements of where you live, your legal stuff. Like, are you in Europe? Are you in California? Where are you? Where are your customers, your viewers? Then you drop in a short code for your privacy code and for the cookies and they keep them up to date based on how the laws change. So you don’t have to pay attention to, Oh, did California make some crazy new law about cookies? What do I need to do to update my site? It’s really, really great. So I did an interview with her. Russell Aaron: $12 a month or $119 a year. Topher DeRosia: Yeah. Russell Aaron: What is the point of having a privacy policy if you don’t pay extra for limiting your liability? Wow. That’s amazing. Topher DeRosia: It is. Russell Aaron: That’s someone just thinking outside the box. Topher DeRosia: Yeah. I have a couple of videos where I was given an account at a hosting company that I’ve never used and videoed logging in for the first time and getting to a website. Russell Aaron: Oh, wow. Just from first login to setting everything up to now you have something production. Wow. Topher DeRosia: Yeah. Specifically not reading the docs. Russell Aaron: Oh, just trying to brute force your way through it. Topher DeRosia: Yeah. Russell Aaron: That’s smart, dude. Topher DeRosia: It’s partly about… well, they may have wonderful docs. It may be super easy to do if you read all the docs. I don’t want to read the docs. Russell Aaron: Me neither. Topher DeRosia: Clickety clickety click, I have a website. So I did GreenGeeks. I did honesthosting.io. I did X cloud. So that’s the kind of stuff I’m doing. Russell Aaron: That’s interesting. That is something that, that Gary V talks about a lot is that it used to have to be where you are this WordPress brand and you do just this and all your videos could only be about that. Anytime you stepped outside the box, people were like, “Why am I watching this?” And today now we’re to finally to where my website would probably actually thrive is it’s so random. It’s just something out of my head and one thing can skyrocket and it’s like hitting the jackpot, you know? That’s interesting. Topher DeRosia: Another thing I did is I made a site called topher.how and because I realized I had never really made stuff in my own channel. I’ve been blogging for decades, making videos, WinningWP. I have over a hundred videos on WinningWP. Russell Aaron: WinningWP? Topher DeRosia: Yeah. Russell Aaron: Did you start that when Charlie Sheen started doing Winning? Topher DeRosia: No, no, no, no. But I was thinking, boy, I’d love to have all this stuff on my own website, but I don’t want to go find it all and copy paste posts. And then I realized nearly every place I’ve ever made content has RSS for their authors. Russell Aaron: Yeah. Topher DeRosia: And so I found the sites, found my author RSS feed and started piping them into WP all import. And now topher.how has all my content from the last 15 years on a dozen different sites, doesn’t more than a dozen different sites, all my videos, all my posts, everything on wordpress.tv, all that stuff. So it’s kind of a portfolio. Yeah, so you can go to topher.how and see all my stuff. Russell Aaron: That was actually one thing that I was really proud of was that my entire WordPress journey is documented on somebody else’s project. So, like you go to WPwatercooler and my resume, what is great about it is that it is not me who can edit those videos, it is not me who can master them. Those words are there. Those words are me. You want to know my qualifications in WordPress, there’s all my shit. For me, I was like, “That’s actually pretty sick. You know what I mean?” Topher DeRosia: Yeah. Russell Aaron: Wow. Topher.how. Oh, dude, do you know who Jeffrey Zinn is? Topher DeRosia: No. Russell Aaron: Oh God. Him and Brandon Dove they have Pixel Jar. Have you ever heard of Pixel Jar? Topher DeRosia: Maybe. Russell Aaron: They’re big West coasters. I’ll tell you that much. He just wrote me, “He literally just said, dude, how do you find the time to write so much on LinkedIn? I enjoy all your stuff, but mostly I’m blown away by the volume.” Topher DeRosia: Nice. Russell Aaron: I’m going to write him back and just tell him the truth. But you know, it’s all thought man. Interesting. Topher, I’ve had a lot of fun. Am I taking up your time? Topher DeRosia: I should get back to work. Russell Aaron: All right, sir. Have a good one. Topher DeRosia: All right. I’ll see ya. Russell Aaron: Bye. Topher DeRosia: Bye.

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Sponsored by ⁠⁠Web Designer Anthology⁠⁠ Stop building from scratch on every project. ⁠⁠Web Designer Anthology⁠⁠ gives you conversion-focused website templates, strategic frameworks, and design-systems methodology so you can work smarter and make more in less time. Get access to 20 conversion-structured website templates, 600+ strategic design assets, homepage and sales page formulas, and an AI assistant trained to help you build results-driven websites faster.

Thanks Pressable for supporting the show! Get your special hosting deal at https://pressable.com/wpminuteBecome a WP Minute Supporter & Slack member at https://thewpminute.com/supportOn this episode of The WP Minute+ podcast, Eric is joined by Donata Stroink-Skillrud, president of Termageddon. Donata highlights the importance of privacy compliance for websites and explains that most modern sites need a privacy policy to avoid legal consequences and gain user trust. Privacy-friendly websites are now a key differentiator in the market, and she provides practical advice on how to inform clients about data collection tools, such as Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel. Donata also discusses common bad practices, such as using templated privacy policies and ignoring compliance, and offers strategies for maintaining up-to-date policies as laws evolve. She stresses that failing to address privacy can cost businesses leads, sales, and reputation, and encourages a proactive approach to compliance. This episode is essential for web developers, agencies, and small business owners who want to protect their business and build trust with their visitors.Takeaways:Privacy and compliance are strategic assets, not just legal hurdles.The true cost of neglecting privacy isn't just fines – it's lost trust.Agency and freelancer responsibilities should focus on informing, not taking ownership of compliance.Continuous maintenance and monitoring are essential for effective privacy policy management.Transparency on tools and data collection builds trust and legal clarity.Privacy laws act more like a confusing maze than a coherent framework.AI tools are helpful assistants but untrustworthy legal or policy sources.Important Links:TermageddonConnect with Donata: LinkedInGDPR Enforcement TrackerThe WP Minute+ Podcast: thewpminute.com/subscribe ★ Support this podcast ★

Thanks Pressable for supporting the podcast! What hosting should feel like...nothing! https://pressable.com/wpminute Today's episode of The WP Minute podcast features a segment from Eric's interview with Donata Stroink-Skillrud, President of Termageddon. Donata stopped by to help web professionals better understand privacy requirements and how to communicate them to clients. She also notes that it's the client's responsibility to enact such policies, not ours. You can check out the entire interview over on our WP Minute+ channel. Visit thewpminute.com for all the details: https://thewpminute.com/you-arent-responsible-for-your-clients-privacy-policy/ Watch the full interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fc0mOYbwQNg Support our work at https://thewpminute.com/supportGet the newsletter at https://thewpminute.com/subscribe ★ Support this podcast ★

From Chennai, India...A tech tip about when human oversight still makes sense, as explored through Termsy, a browser extension for reviewing legal terms, and Termageddon, a service for generating auto-updating website policies.Some concise advice about why the 'break-even' point on your marketing spend is likely a lot higher than you think it is.00:00 Location Update02:29 Tech Tip09:24 Concise Advice18:49 Wrapping Up

Increase your income without niching down, rebranding or adding more services or skills. ​Get our 90-Day Revenue Roadmap Training and find out how to go from undercharging and hustling to booking projects you love (at higher prices than you thought possible). Get the full show notes at https://webdesigneracademy.com/158 When you're ready, here are some ways we can help you with your web design business:​

Donata Stroink-Skillrud is an attorney licensed in Illinois, a Certified Information Privacy Professional, and President of Termageddon, a SaaS platform transforming how eCommerce businesses handle legal compliance. Built at the intersection of privacy law expertise and technology, Termageddon helps online businesses stay compliant with ever-changing privacy regulations, without needing a legal team.After years of working directly with contract law, consumer protection, and international privacy regulations, Donata saw firsthand how fragmented, outdated, and risky privacy compliance had become for Ecommerce websites. What started as manual legal work soon evolved into an automated solution that identifies which privacy laws apply to a business and generates up-to-date, accurate website policies in minutes—not weeks.Donata brings a legal insider's perspective to the realities of online selling, breaking down complex regulations into practical steps for founders. From helping brands avoid FTC fines on subscription renewals, to clarifying why state privacy laws apply to your store, Donata explains the hidden legal pitfalls that quietly erode Ecommerce growth and how to protect against them.Whether sharing how generic privacy templates leave stores exposed, why recurring billing pages are the newest legal battleground, or how to future-proof your policies against incoming U.S. state laws, Donata delivers a tactical, no-nonsense playbook for reducing legal risk and building customer trust.In This Conversation We Discuss: [00:42] Intro[01:04] Breaking down contract laws for entrepreneurs[02:02] Explaining why Shopify won't cover your compliance[03:57] Breaking down real costs of ignoring privacy laws[06:53] Clarifying why location won't shield your store[08:10] Highlighting false refund claims that trigger fines[11:54] Identifying which privacy laws apply to you[13:36] Turning repetitive legal work into automation[14:55] Updating policies before laws take effect[16:29] Receiving automatic updates without extra effort[17:15] Saving weeks of legal work with automation[18:12] Staying compliant as privacy laws keep changingResources:Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on YoutubeProtects business from fines and lawsuits termageddon.com/Follow Donata Stroink-Skillrud linkedin.com/in/donata-stroink-skillrudIf you're enjoying the show, we'd love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Subscriber-only episodeDo you remember your first year in business as a web designer? Are you there now?One thing is common for all of us in the first year…it's a rollercoaster of highs and lows, ups and downs, incredible days and perhaps dreadful days. But if you can survive that first year, chances are you're going to make it.I'm so excited to bring onto the podcast Megan Fletcher who just crossed her first year official year in business and at the same time, had her biggest revenue month to date pulling in over 8k!She's now got her sights set on a 6-figure business and has an incredible foundation to get there in year 2.In this chat, she shares all her lessons learned (both good and bad) from the first year of her business and most importantly, how she weathered a couple storms and got through the tough times.As a member of my community Web Designer Pro, I have to say these success stories are some of my favorites because I often see all the challenges, hardships and coach members when they're in the thick of it…but I know there's always a brighter future right ahead if they just stick with it!! And that's exactly what Megan has done.Enjoy!Head to the show notes to get all links and resources we mentioned along with a full transcription of this episode at joshhall.co/377Big thanks to the sponsors for our upcoming Web Designer Pro CON 2025 event! We couldn't make such a top-notch event for my community without their support

Jump into Web Designer Pro™ for your first month at 50% off with code APRIL50 at webdesignerpro.com. This special offer expires at the end of April 2025, so don't miss your chance to access all courses and join our thriving community!In this Q&A session, we dive deep into what's working right now in the web design industry, answering listener questions on topics from SEO to networking strategies, CRM systems, and leveraging AI effectively in your business.• SEO fundamentals remain largely unchanged despite AI advancements with core principles of good structure and quality content still driving results• Local networking is most effective when you focus on accessing others' networks rather than directly selling to group members• CRM systems like 17hats can dramatically improve workflow efficiency through automation of proposals, contracts and client onboarding• Adding quarterly strategy calls to maintenance plans can generate significant additional revenue while strengthening client relationships• White label services require consistent value demonstration in communities rather than simply asking for work• AI is most effectively used beyond just site building – leverage it for business development, finding networking opportunities, and streamlining operations• The most successful designers focus on helping clients grow their businesses with websites as a tool rather than just delivering websites• Raising your rates regularly is essential for business sustainability, especially as your skills and results improveWatch the full replay hereBig thanks to the sponsors for our upcoming Web Designer Pro CON 2025 event! We couldn't make such a top-notch event for my community without their support

Josh here popping in with a special bonus episode on my thoughts on Ai for web designers. This was taken from a recent panel discussion about Ai on the Small Business Sweet Spot podcast.For the full episode and to hear other opinions on the good and bad of Ai for small businesses in 2025, check it out at:Spotify https://open.spotify.com/episode/7ByyAcRHME1WiPNvrt0dqz?si=7c07b8e44dfe4673Apple https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fight-it-or-friend-it-ai-use-for-the-solopreneur-ep57/id1728291369?i=1000704431752Blog Post https://compassdigitalstrategies.com/podcast/fight-it-or-friend-it-ai-use-for-the-solopreneur-ep57/Big thanks to the sponsors for our upcoming Web Designer Pro CON 2025 event! We couldn't make such a top-notch event for my community without their support

FSC Ep.99 - Website Privacy Policy or Legal Pages - 3 Ways To Get Them. As a dedicated content creator and online marketing strategist, my mission is to help you grow your online business effectively. This video dives into essential website strategies, including implementing privacy policies—a crucial step for any successful online business. With data laws tightening, I'll guide you through using online templates, dedicated services like Termageddon, and professional legal assistance to protect your brand and boost consumer confidence.

In this episode of "Somewhat Useful," we get to speak with special guests Sarah Greisdorf, team lead for Squarespace Circle, and Sam Zelitch, Squarespace senior community events manager. Our conversation centers around Circle Day, now in its third year, which celebrates the work of professional Squarespace website designers. Sam and Sarah share some updates for this year's event, including a new "world loop" feature that will broadcast the event across multiple time zones and languages. We discuss: The structure and highlights of this year's Circle Day How Squarespace balances feedback from professional and DIY users The role of community in product development and user satisfaction Teasers for upcoming Squarespace features and improvements Episode Links: ⁠Sign up for Circle Day! Special thanks to ⁠⁠⁠Termageddon⁠⁠⁠ for sponsoring this season of Somewhat Useful. Termageddon is the only Privacy Policy Generator founded by an actual attorney. Their generator asks you questions about your business, finds out which privacy laws apply to you, and then generators the policies specific to your website's needs. Follow this link to learn more and get a special offer for web designers. Follow: ⁠⁠Follow Christy on Instagram⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Follow Will on Instagram⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Sign up for Will's Newsletter⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Sign up for Christy's Newsletter⁠

In this episode of "Somewhat Useful," we dive into the world of Squarespace plugins and digital entrepreneurship with Cody Juhnke, the founder of Ghost Plugins. Cody shares his journey from freelance web designer to creator of the largest resource for Squarespace websites, offering over 500 free plugins and a suite of premium tools. We explore: The origin story of Ghost Plugins and how it evolved to meet the needs of the Squarespace community Insights into running multiple successful businesses, including Pluto and Ghost Marketplace The challenges of maintaining plugins with Squarespace's evolving platform Cody's unique approach to template design with "paper templates" Tips for balancing multiple projects and avoiding burnout as an entrepreneur The future of Ghost Plugins Episode Links: Broken link check  Ghost Plugins Ghost Marketplace Moov Labs Pluto Studio Special thanks to Termageddon for sponsoring this season of Somewhat Useful. Termageddon is the only Privacy Policy Generator founded by an actual attorney. Their generator asks you questions about your business, finds out which privacy laws apply to you, and then generators the policies specific to your website's needs. Follow this link to learn more and get a special offer for web designers. Follow: ⁠⁠Follow Christy on Instagram⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Follow Will on Instagram⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Sign up for Will's Newsletter⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Sign up for Christy's Newsletter⁠

In this episode of Somewhat Useful, we get to pick the brain of Tony Howell, a personal brand strategist and web designer for award-winning artists. Join us as we discuss: Tony's journey from Broadway actor to web designer The ins and outs of running his agency from Bali, Indonesia His process for producing quality websites and building long-term relationships with his clients Insights on managing a remote team across time zones The evolution of his education-focused business model His unique approach to building brands, not just websites Practical tips for aspiring digital nomads on healthcare and work-life balance Whether you're a web designer looking to level up your process, an entrepreneur considering the digital nomad lifestyle, or just curious about the intersection of technology and the arts, this episode is packed with actionable advice and candid discussions about the realities of running a creative business in today's digital landscape. Don't miss Tony's thoughts on creating timeless designs, future-proofing client websites, and why Bali has become a hub for digital entrepreneurs. Plus, get a peek into how he structures his work week to maximize creativity and maintain work-life balance in paradise. Episode Links: Tony Howell⁠ TourHero Webflow  HomeExchange Nomad List SafetyWing Insurance Cigna Global Eli Zoller Special thanks to ⁠Termageddon⁠⁠⁠ for sponsoring this season of Somewhat Useful. Termageddon is the only Privacy Policy Generator founded by an actual attorney. Their generator asks you questions about your business, finds out which privacy laws apply to you, and then generators the policies specific to your website's needs. Follow this link to learn more and get a special offer for web designers.⁠⁠ Follow:⁠⁠ Follow Christy on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow Will on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sign up for Will's Newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sign up for Christy's Newsletter⁠

Ready to dive into the world of AI, personal branding, and digital nomad life? In this episode, we're joined by the wonderful Phil Pallen, a brand strategist, speaker, Adobe ambassador, author, and just all around great guy. Phil shares with his: His evolution from personal branding consultant to YouTube content creator and into brand partnerships How he creates timeless brand identities that truly stand out How AI is revolutionizing creativity (and why it won't replace human ingenuity) Insider tips for successful brand partnerships and content monetization The pros and cons of letting AI crawl your blog content Essential gear and work-life balance hacks for aspiring digital nomads A sneak peek at his upcoming AI for small business book and Brand Masters membership community Whether you're a solopreneur looking to level up your personal brand, a content creator navigating the world of sponsorships, or just curious about the intersection of AI and creativity, this episode is packed with actionable insights and candid discussions about the ever-evolving digital landscape. Episode Links: Phil's book preorder⁠ Brand masters membership (coming soon...) ⁠Adobe Firefly⁠  ⁠Christy's YouTube⁠ ⁠Will's YouTube⁠ ⁠Becca's YouTube ⁠Uscreen  Special thanks to Termageddon for sponsoring this season of Somewhat Useful. Termageddon is the only Privacy Policy Generator founded by an actual attorney. Their generator asks you questions about your business, finds out which privacy laws apply to you, and then generators the policies specific to your website's needs. Follow this link to learn more and get a special offer for web designers. ⁠⁠Termageddon⁠⁠ Follow: ⁠⁠Follow Christy on Instagram⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Follow Will on Instagram⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Sign up for Will's Newsletter⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Sign up for Christy's Newsletter⁠

Ever wondered what it's like to run a successful web design agency? In this episode of Somewhat Useful, we sit down with none other than Kelsey Gilbert-Kreiling, co-founder of Week of the Website, a Squarespace agency celebrating its 10th year in business. We get into it all in this episode. Kelsey tells us about: The accidental birth of their 'week-long website' process. How a taxi cab concussion led to scaling the business The challenges of balancing entrepreneurship with parenthood Why even successful agency owners never feel like they've 'made it' Whether you're a solo designer dreaming of growth or an agency owner looking for solidarity, this episode is packed with insights and real talk about the entrepreneurial journey. Don't miss Kelsey's advice on making tough decisions, setting boundaries with clients, and why the only wrong choice in business is to do nothing. Episode Links: - Week of the Website - Squarespace from Signup to Launch: Build, customize, and launch robust and user-friendly Squarespace websites with a no-code approach - Follow Kelsey on Instagram Special thanks to Termageddon for sponsoring this season of Somewhat Useful. Termageddon is the only Privacy Policy Generator founded by an actual attorney. Their generator asks you questions about your business, finds out which privacy laws apply to you, and then generators the policies specific to your website's needs. Follow this link to learn more and get a special offer for web designers. ⁠Termageddon⁠ Follow: ⁠Follow Christy on Instagram⁠ ⁠Follow Will on Instagram⁠ ⁠Sign up for Will's Newsletter⁠ ⁠Sign up for Christy's Newsletter⁠

Ah privacy policies…your favorite aspect of web design, right?Yeah me neither but day by day, it's an aspect of websites that becomes more and more important with new privacy laws being passed in the states along with other countries, even outside the EU with regards to GDPR compliance. So, to help us make sense of where things are at with website privacy policies, I'm excited to bring back on to the podcast, my friend and privacy policy expert Hans Skillrud of Termageddon.In this chat, we cover:How to better understand what we need to do as web designers for privacyHow we can help clients by selling privacy policy plans to themThe difference between privacy on contact form submissions versus cookie contents and “behind the scenes” privacy and much moreI highly recommend using Termaggedon for your auto-updating privacy policies. You can use it as an upsell on your hosting/maintenance plan or sell it one off to clients so they don't have to worry about it!It's what I use on my privacy policy page and what my agency uses as an upsell for our plan.Get all links and resources mentioned along with a full transcription at:https://joshhall.co/334.View all Web Design Business Podcasts with show notes and full transcriptions at: https://joshhall.co/podcastSupport the Show.Join Web Designer Pro™ before we hit the 250 member cap!https://joshhall.co/pro

Welcome back to another season of "Somewhat Useful," where we explore digital entrepreneurship and web design with a particular focus on Squarespace. In this episode, we have a special guest, Kristine Neil, an ecommerce expert who shares her insights into using Squarespace for ecommerce. Kristine moved from running an agency to focusing solely on ecommerce, and we discuss the challenges of managing client expectations and navigating the transition to solo entrepreneurship. We also dive into the comparison between Squarespace and Shopify, the importance of setting boundaries, and the future of Squarespace following its acquisition. So grab your headphones let's dive in! Amazing Sponsor: Special thanks to Termageddon for sponsoring this season of Somewhat Useful. Termageddon is the only Privacy Policy Generator founded by an actual attorney. Their generator asks you questions about your business, finds out which privacy laws apply to you, and then generators the policies specific to your website's needs. Follow this link to learn more and get a special offer for web designers. ⁠Termageddon⁠ Follow: ⁠Follow Christy on Instagram⁠ ⁠Follow Will on Instagram⁠ ⁠Sign up for Will's Newsletter⁠ ⁠Sign up for Christy's Newsletter⁠

As a legal engineer at a legal technology company, Donata Stroink-Skillrud uses her knowledge and skills as a lawyer to scale privacy policies -- an essential element of any company's website. She also happens to be a co-founder and the president of the company, Termageddon. There's no attorney-client relationship with Donata's clients today, but they still depend on her ability to understand, organize, and explain the law. This broad conversation ranges from legal ethics and legal engineering to keeping up with privacy law changes across the world. It can be lonely in this sort of role, but find community is both possible and helpful. Donata is a 2015 graduate of the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law.This episode is hosted by Kyle McEntee.Mentioned in this episode:Learn more about Vermont LawIdaho LawLearn more about Idaho LawLearn more about Rutgers LawLearn more about William & Mary Law SchoolIdaho LawLearn more about Idaho LawLearn more about Rutgers LawAccess LawHub today!

Visit thedigitalslicepodcast.com for complete show notes of every podcast episode. Join Brad Friedman and Donata Stroink-Skillrud for a chat about recent laws and Google's pressure to require websites to allow visitors to opt-in to tracking. Donata Stroink-Skillrud is the president of Termageddon -- a privacy policy generator that automatically updates your website policies as privacy laws change. She's also a licensed attorney and Certified Information Privacy Professional who is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, a member of the American Bar Association's Science and Technology Council, a member of the ABA's Cybersecurity Legal Task Force, Vice-Chair of Program Committee, and Vice-Chair of Privacy, Security and Emerging Technology Division.

In this episode of the BSuite podcast, host Anne Richardson digs into the complex topic of data privacy with experts Donata Stroink-Skillrud and Hans Skillrud, founders of Termageddon, a service that generates and updates website privacy policies, cookie policies, and terms & conditions for small businesses.  Termageddon exists to help businesses remain in compliance with the rapidly evolving landscape of privacy regulations. Hans and Donata break down the basics of privacy law compliance, explain why a lack of standardized privacy law in the United States (and around the globe) causes so much trouble for business and consumers, and ultimately imagine the positive impact that better privacy practices could have on the advertising industry as a whole.    LINKS/RESOURCES MENTIONED: American Bar Foundation: https://www.americanbarfoundation.org/ ePrivacy Committee of the American Bar Association: https://www.americanbar.org/groups/science_technology/committees/e-privacy/ Richardson Media Group's Privacy Policy (Generated by Termageddon): https://richardsonmediagroup.com/privacy-policy/ GDPR: https://gdpr-info.eu/ NOYB: https://noyb.eu/en Federal Trade Commission: https://www.ftc.gov/ Termageddon: https://termageddon.com/ Privacy Lawls: https:/termageddon.com/podcasts/  

Hans Skillrud is the co-founder and VP of Termageddon, an auto-updating website policies solution created for agency owners and their clients. Termageddon has generated over 50,000 website policies for its customers, and their agency partner program has helped agencies around the world make more than $1,000,000 in combined annual recurring.

Why do businesses create cookies for their websites – and what choices can visitors make when a popup asks us to choose? Can chatbots write privacy policies for businesses? How can we determine if a website shares personal information we provide to it – and if so, for what purposes? Donata Stroink-Skillrud, President and Legal Engineer of Termageddon (https://www.termageddon.com), addresses these questions. As data privacy laws and regulations spread, data privacy technology and policies must adapt. As website visitors, we should understand our choices when deciding what to click on cookie popups and should know whether a website business is gathering our personal information for limited and proper purposes. Learn a trick about how to know if a business shares personal information. Businesses wishing to be privacy compliant and earn a privacy-centric reputation should consider top tips. For individuals, hear advice for how we can protect our personal information in a world of growing threats to our privacy. Time stamps: 01:00 — Cookies, explained 06:21 — Chatbots, explained 10:56 — How can we find out if a business is sharing our personal information? 14:21 — Tips for businesses that want to focus on user privacy 15:24 — Tips for individuals who want to protect their privacy

Donata Stroink-Skillrud, President & Legal Engineer and Hans Skillrud, Donata's husband and Co-Founder & Vice President of Termageddon discuss the importance of data privacy for anyone who owns a website. We talk about all the different data privacy laws around the world, and how it is the responsibility of you the website owner, to understand the regional law of the visitor that is visiting your site. Shifting the ownership of data from customer to content creator, and consent from website owner to website visitor. Topics:Web agencies are here to helpSmall businessesLegal documentsImportance of privacyGDPR & UKDPAData scandalsPrivacy LawsJunk mail & data sharingCookies & Cookie PolicyUser Consent & TrackingPrivacy PolicyAttorney's & SolicitorsPolicy Generators Donata & HansTermageddon: https://termageddon.com/INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/termageddon/LINKEDIN - Donata: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donata-stroink-skillrud/LINKEDIN - Hans: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hans-skillrud/ Lou: https://www.instagram.com/lou.temlett/LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/louisetemlett/INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/lou.temlett/THREADS: https://www.threads.net/@lou.temlett Get your Data Privacy Package with LOUTECH: https://loutech.co.uk/data-privacy-package PRODUCTION CREDIT: Kerr Mathieson of Audio OutsourceMUSIC CREDIT:ARTIST: Maleki Ram | ALBUM: The Ghost at the End of the World | TRACK: The Rushhttps://music.apple.com/gb/album/the-rush/1098113666?i=1098113677 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Could your website possibly get you sued by the government? Today's guest, Hans Skillrud, is an expert in privacy policies, and is here to shed some light on terms and conditions, cookies, and the potential consequences of having an inaccurate privacy policy. Visit https://termageddon.com for the Privacy Policy Generator and use code WINGNUT at checkout for a discount! Hans is the cofounder and Vice President of Termageddon, an auto-updating website policies solution, which he's been running with his wife full time for over 4 years. Prior to Termageddon, Hans ran a 12 person web design and software development company in downtown Chicago. Outside of work, Hans enjoys gardening and beekeeping. ***

This episode features Donata Stroink-Skillrud, Co-Founder and President of Termageddon, a software service that specializes in the identification of privacy laws applicable to an organization and the development of privacy policies, terms of service, and end user license agreements for that organization. Donata is an attorney who also represents the American Bar Association's Section of Science and Technology Law on the ABA President's Cybersecurity Legal Task Force (CLTF). In this episode, we discuss the CLTF, its purpose, topics and issue areas it addresses, and the cybersecurity resources the CLTF has created for attorneys and law firms (which are free and applicable to many other organizations). We also discuss recent Resolutions that CLTF has put forward for adoption by the ABA, including is AI Resolution. Links to CLTF resources are provided on the ADCG website for this episode.

What is privacy? Why should we care? Why does Mickey Mouse need your fingerprint? Are doorbell cameras worth the risk? Guest, Hans Skillrud (Co-founder of Termageddon) comes on to discuss how today's world views privacy for the first episode of Privacy Lawls. Brought to you by Termageddon -- website policies that automatically update as privacy laws change.

Creating website policies can feel pretty overwhelming. It's easy to think copying and pasting templates will do, but this shortcut can put both agencies and clients at risk. In this episode, I was really pumped to chat again with Hans from Termageddon. He walks us through his journey of building a tool that does the heavy lifting. He shares valuable insights into building a business on a firm foundation and developing relationships that last. Full show notes: https://trailblazer.fm/privacy-policies/

Keeping up with data protection and privacy laws is exhausting. Nearly every month, new legislation is being introduced state by state to help keep users' data protected online. And while this is overall a good thing, it can get really messy if agency owners aren't educated and informing their clients about what this means when they build out their websites. Luckily, our guest today, Hans Skillrud, has collaborated with his wife to create an easy, self-updating tool that agency owners can implement on their own websites and the sites they build for their clients. He has committed himself to ensuring that data protection tools and documentation are easily accessible for anyone without needing a legal degree to make sense of it all.   In this episode, you'll learn why you must educate yourself and your clients on the most current privacy policy and data protection laws, why not to cut corners in this department, and why you should never collect more data than you actually need. Even if it doesn't seem like a big deal right now, with the constantly changing environment of privacy laws, you never know when you could end up in a mess, even five years later. Don't delay on this, and get your documentation in check today. A big thank you to our podcast's presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They're an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here. What You Will Learn in This Episode: What is Termageddon? What agencies are required to provide to their clients in terms of documentation The risks for smaller businesses and agencies for not practicing good data protection Why agencies should embrace data protection policies, even if it seems complicated Can chatGPT write our policies for us? Why copying and pasting someone else's policies is a bad idea How data protection lawsuits happen How the Termageddon team keeps up with constantly changing data protection laws The confusing future of privacy law Three best data protection practices for agencies and website builders

This week on Privacy Please, we have the pleasure of speaking with the President, VP, and Co-founders at Termageddon, Donata and Hans Skillrud! Tune in to learn more about their backgrounds and how and why Termageddon was created. Company info: Termageddon creates policies for your website or application and automatically updates the policies when the law changes.

2023-05-2 Weekly News - Episode 194Watch the video version on YouTube at https://youtube.com/live/AcCTuJvbteU?feature=share Hosts:  Eric Peterson - Senior Developer at Ortus Solutions Daniel Garcia - Senior Developer at Ortus Solutions Thanks to our Sponsor - Ortus SolutionsThe makers of ColdBox, CommandBox, ForgeBox, TestBox and all your favorite box-es out there. A few ways  to say thanks back to Ortus Solutions: Like and subscribe to our videos on YouTube.  Help ORTUS reach for the Stars - Star and Fork our ReposStar all of your Github Box Dependencies from CommandBox with https://www.forgebox.io/view/commandbox-github  Subscribe to our Podcast on your Podcast Apps and leave us a review Sign up for a free or paid account on CFCasts, which is releasing new content every week BOXLife store: https://www.ortussolutions.com/about-us/shop Buy Ortus's Books 102 ColdBox HMVC Quick Tips and Tricks on GumRoad (http://gum.co/coldbox-tips) Learn Modern ColdFusion (CFML) in 100+ Minutes - Free online https://modern-cfml.ortusbooks.com/ or buy an EBook or Paper copy https://www.ortussolutions.com/learn/books/coldfusion-in-100-minutes  OR — Join us for the 10th Into the Box - In person ONLY!!! Patreon Support ()We have 40 patreons: https://www.patreon.com/ortussolutions. News and AnnouncementsICYMI - Into the Box - Hackathon added to Happy BoxDuring the first day of Into the Box Conference 2023; on May 18th, we're hosting a Happy Box Party where attendees can connect and network with one another. We're excited to announce that this year, we're introducing a new activity: a Hackathon team-up event! This hackathon is an excellent opportunity for tech enthusiasts to come together, collaborate, share their skills and knowledge, and work on innovative projects that tackle real-world problems. We hope you'll join us for this exciting time! We are currently in the process of finalizing the topics for the hackathon and would love to hear your feedback. We want to make sure that the topics we select are relevant to the interests and expertise of our attendees, so please take a moment to let us know what topics you would be most interested in working on.https://www.ortussolutions.com/blog/what-would-you-like-to-hack-on-at-into-the-box-2023 New Releases and UpdatesColdBox 6.8.2 LTS ReleasedColdBox 6.x will receive bug fixes until 2024 and security fixes until 2025. COLDBOX-1219: CFProvider ACF versions are Hard-Coded WIREBOX-132: WireBox caches Singletons even if their autowired dependencies throw exceptions. https://www.ortussolutions.com/blog/coldbox-682-releasedhttps://coldbox.ortusbooks.com/intro/release-history/whats-new-with-6.8.2What's New With ColdBox 7.0.0? Engine Support ColdBox CLI WireBox Updates Transient Request Cache Delegators Property Observers Lazy Properties New `onInjectorMissingDependency` event Population Enhancements (including mass assignment protection) Hierarchical Injectors (for Module Dependencies) Module Config Object Override files App Mode Helpers `redirectBack` included as `back` `DateTimeHelper` component Whoops! Upgrades More data for development REST exception responses JSON Pretty Printing in LogBox Output Exception Pretty Printing in LogBox Output Combine `canXXX` checks with logging using callback functions `event.setRequestTimeout()` - useful for testing https://coldbox.ortusbooks.com/v/7.x/intro/release-history/whats-new-with-7.0.0CommandBox 5.9.0 Released Java 17 SupportLots of `illegal reflective access` problems; here be dragons Override package install paths in `box.json` `ls –tree` flag Tree Print Helper Column Print Helper `unansi` Command - useful for piping text `clipboard` command for copying text https://www.ortussolutions.com/blog/commandbox-590-releasedWebinar / Meetups and WorkshopsAdobe ColdFusion Workshop: DevOps, CI/CD, and PipelinesWednesday, May 10, 2023Time: 1:00 - 4:30pm ET; 10:00am - 1:30pm PTHost: CarahsoftCost: No FeeMax CPE Credits Available: 4.2 credit hours (1 CPE credit is based on 50 minutes) Field of Study: Information Technology This workshop is ideal for software engineers that are eager to build pipelines to automate their coding projects. Adobe ColdFusion developers are also encouraged to attend. This course will be beneficial for any professional developer who is looking to simplify their application architecture with Adobe ColdFusion and DevOps.https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/358809-cpe Adobe - Road to Fortuna Series: ColdFusion 2023 in Docker on Google Cloud PlatformMay 23, 202310 AM - 11 AM PTDuring GCP centric webinar, Mark Takata will explore how to run a containerized ColdFusion 2023 server on Google Cloud Platform's Kubernetes powered containerization system. He will demonstrate how the powerful new Google Cloud Platform features added to ColdFusion 2023 can help optimize application development, provisioning and delivery. This will be the first time ColdFusion 2023 will be shown running in containers publicly, and the session is designed to showcase the ease of working in this popular method of software delivery.Speaker - Mark Takata - ColdFusion Technical Evangelist, Adobehttps://docker-gcp-coldfusion.meetus.adobeevents.com/ CFCasts Content Updateshttps://www.cfcasts.comRecent Releases Mastering CommandBox 5 - 1 new video - https://cfcasts.com/series/mastering-commandbox-5Web.xml Overrides 2023 ForgeBox Module of the Week Series - 1 new Video https://cfcasts.com/series/2023-forgebox-modules-of-the-week  2023 VS Code Hint tip and Trick of the Week Series - 1 new Video https://cfcasts.com/series/2023-vs-code-hint-tip-and-trick-of-the-week  Just added 2019 Into the Box Videos Watch sessions from previous ITB years Into the Box 2022 - https://cfcasts.com/series/itb-2022  Into the Box 2021 - https://cfcasts.com/series/into-the-box-2021  Into the Box 2020 - https://cfcasts.com/series/itb-2020  Into the Box 2019 - https://cfcasts.com/series/into-the-box-2019  Coming Soon More ForgeBox and VS Code Podcast snippet videos ColdBox Elixir from Eric Getting Started with Inertia.js from Eric Conferences and TrainingJ on the BeachBringing DevOps, Devs and Data Scientists together around Big DataMay 10-12, 2023 Malaga, Spainhttps://www.jonthebeach.com/ Ortus Profile: https://www.jonthebeach.com/jobs/54/Ortus%20SolutionsVueJS Live MAY 12 & 15, 2023ONLINE + LONDON, UKCODE / CREATE / COMMUNICATE35 SPEAKERS, 10 WORKSHOPS10000+ JOINING ONLINE GLOBALLY300 LUCKIES MEETING IN LONDONhttps://vuejslive.com/ Into the Box 2023 - 10th EditionMay 17-19, 2023 The conference will be held in The Woodlands (Houston), Texas - This year we will continue the tradition of training and offering a pre-conference hands-on training day on May 17th and our live Mariachi Band Party! However, we are back to our Spring schedule and beautiful weather in The Woodlands! Also, this 2023 will mark our 10 year anniversary. So we might have two live bands and much more!!!IN PERSON ONLY Website launched: https://intothebox.orghttps://itb2023.eventbrite.com/ 1 month away - can't wait, watch videos from the last 4 years on CFCasts Into the Box 2022 - https://cfcasts.com/series/itb-2022 Into the Box 2021 - https://cfcasts.com/series/into-the-box-2021  Into the Box 2020 - https://cfcasts.com/series/itb-2020  Into the Box 2019 - https://cfcasts.com/series/into-the-box-2019  VueConf.usNEW ORLEANS, LA • MAY 24-26, 2023Jazz. Code. Vue.Workshop day: May 24Main Conference: May 25-26https://vueconf.us/ CFCamp - Pre-Conference - Ortus has 4 TrainingsJune 21st, 2023Held at the CFCamp venue at the Marriott Hotel Munich Airport in Freising. TestBox: Getting started with BDD-TDD Oh My! Coldbox 7 - from zero to hero Legacy Code Conversion To The Modern World CommandBox Server Deployment for the Modern Age https://www.cfcamp.org/pre-conference.html CFCampJune 22-23rd, 2023Marriott Hotel Munich Airport, FreisingCheck out all the great sessions: https://www.cfcamp.org/sessions.htmlCheck out all the great speakers: https://www.cfcamp.org/cfcamp-conference-2023/speakers.html Register now: https://www.cfcamp.org/THAT ConferenceHowdy. We're a full-stack, tech-obsessed community of fun, code-loving humans who share and learn together.We geek-out in Texas and Wisconsin once a year but we host digital events all the time.WISCONSIN DELLS, WI / JULY 24TH - 27TH, 2022A four-day summer camp for developers passionate about learning all things mobile, web, cloud, and technology.https://that.us/events/wi/2023/Our very own Daniel Garcia is speaking there https://that.us/activities/R3eAGT1NfIlAOJd2afY7Adobe CF Summit WestLas Vegas 2-4th of October.Get your early bird passes now. Session passes @ $99 Professional passes @ $199. Only till May 31st, 2023!Can you spot ME - Gavin - Apparently I'm in 3 of the photos!Call for Speakers is OPENhttps://cfsummit.adobeevents.com/ https://cfsummit.adobeevents.com/speaker-application/More conferencesNeed more conferences, this site has a huge list of conferences for almost any language/community.https://confs.tech/Blogs, Tweets, and Videos of the Week4/24/23 - Blog - Evagoras Charalambous - Clarifying the use of the DateFormat ‘D' mask for ACF2021+Before the 2021 upgrade, the following code would produce:```writeOutput( dateFormat( createDate( "2023", "01", "01" ), "YYYY-MM-DD" ) );```Result: 2023-10-01However, with ACF2021+, that same code:Result: 2023-10-274October 1, 2023 is the 274th day out of 365 days for the year, and that's what the mask ‘D' now outputs; a change that was done to match the underlying Java libraries' masking.I needed to make ACF2021 backwards compatible without any code changes. What is needed is to add a JVM argument to the server. In my case I am using Ortus CommandBox and their ‘server.json' definition. I added this in the ‘jvm' section:```"jvm":{    "args":[        "-Dcoldfusion.datemask.useDasdayofmonth=true"    ]}```That's the only change that is needed; the mentioned JAR hotfix is not needed. Omitting that setting has the same effect as setting it to ‘false'.https://www.evagoras.com/2023/04/24/clarifying-the-use-of-the-dateformat-d-mask-for-acf2021/5/2/23 - Blog - Ben Nadel - Hosting Google Fonts Locally For GDPR ComplianceOn episode 607 of the Syntax podcast, Wes and Scott interviewed the co-founders of Termageddon, a consulting company that helps websites create and maintain compliant policies. One of the topics that Termageddon has discussed in the past is Google Fonts. Google Fonts - when served from Google's APIs - have been ruled not GDPR compliant. However, if you serve Google Fonts up locally, they are GDPR compliant. As such, I've started to host them on my own web server.https://www.bennadel.com/blog/4456-hosting-google-fonts-locally-for-gdpr-compliance.htmhttps://gwfh.mranftl.com/fontsCFML JobsSeveral positions available on https://www.getcfmljobs.com/Listing over 61 ColdFusion positions from 38 companies across 29 locations in 5 Countries.1 new jobs listed this weekColdFusion Mid. Web Applications Developer/SupervisorStefanini, Inc • Full-Time • Pune, Maharashtra, Indiahttps://www.getcfmljobs.com/jobs/index.cfm/india/ColdFusion-Mid-Web-Applications-DeveloperSupervisor-at-Pune-Maharashtra/11569Other Job LinksThere is a jobs channel in the CFML slack team, and in the Box team slack now tooForgeBox Module of the WeekTestBox Utils By Gavin PickinA group of TestBox utils to help you write more tests, efficiently. Including helpers, matchers and moreAPI apiResponseexpect( event ).toBeAPIResponseWithError( "X-API-Token is required" ); apiStatusCode expect( event|response ).toHaveStatusCode( numeric ) expect( event|response ).toBe200() expect( event|response ).toBe201() expect( event|response ).toBe400() expect( event|response ).toBe401() expect( event|response ).toBe403() expect( event|response ).toBe404() expect( event|response ).tobe500() Events headers Utils CollectionLength expect( struct|array|list ).toHaveLengthGT( numeric ) expect( struct|array|list ).toHaveLengthGTE( numeric ) expect( struct|array|list ).toHaveLengthLT( numeric ) expect( struct|array|list ).toHaveLengthLTE( numeric ) StructKeysexpect( struct ).toHaveKeyWithCase( "MyCasedKey" ) https://forgebox.io/view/testboxUtilsVS Code Hint Tips and Tricks of the WeekActivity WatchThis extension allows the open source tracking tool ActivityWatch to keep track of the projects and coding languages you use in Visual Code.ActivityWatch is an app that automatically tracks how you spend time on your devices.It is open source, privacy-first, cross-platform, and a great alternative to services like RescueTime, ManicTime, and WakaTime.It can be used to keep track of your productivity, time spent on different projects, bad screen habits, or just to understand how you spend your time.https://activitywatch.net/https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=activitywatch.aw-watcher-vscodeThank you to all of our Patreon SupportersThese individuals are personally supporting our open source initiatives to ensure the great toolings like CommandBox, ForgeBox, ColdBox,  ContentBox, TestBox and all the other boxes keep getting the continuous development they need, and funds the cloud infrastructure at our community relies on like ForgeBox for our Package Management with CommandBox. You can support us on Patreon here https://www.patreon.com/ortussolutionsDon't forget, we have Annual Memberships, pay for the year and save 10% - great for businesses. Bronze Packages and up, now get a ForgeBox Pro and CFCasts subscriptions as a perk for their Patreon Subscription. All Patreon supporters have a Profile badge on the Community Website All Patreon supporters have their own Private Forum access on the Community Website All Patreon supporters have their own Private Channel access BoxTeam Slack https://community.ortussolutions.com/Top Patreons (Spirited!) John Wilson - Synaptrix Tomorrows Guides Jordan Clark Gary Knight Mario Rodrigues Giancarlo Gomez  David Belanger   Dan Card Jeffry McGee - Sunstar Media Dean Maunder Nolan Erck  Abdul Raheen And many more PatreonsYou can see an up to date list of all sponsors on Ortus Solutions' Websitehttps://ortussolutions.com/about-us/sponsors Thanks everyone!!! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Hans Skillrud of Termageddon shares his insights and what he's learned on how to sell without being “salesy”In This Episode00:00 - Introduction02:34 - Greeting to Hans04:48 - First selling experience10:11 - Tighten up the sell12:57 - Education through Groupon17:52 - Be transparent28:07 - Keeping a balance33:32 - Use client verbiage36:52 - Niching42:35 - Match the energy51:25 - Personality perspective56:40 - How to say no1:07:40 - Working togetherGet all links, resources and show notes at:https://joshhall.co/259

In this supper club episode of Syntax, Wes and Scott talk with Donata and Hans Skillrud of Termageddon on GDPR, privacy policies, cookie pop ups, and the various legal and ethical reasons to implement them properly. Show Notes 00:36 Welcome 01:47 Who are Donata and Hans? Donata Stroink-Skillrud Esq., CIPP on Twitter Hans Skillrud on Twitter Termageddon Termageddon on Instagram Termageddon on LinkedIn 03:39 What are privacy policies and a terms of service? 4 Things to Look for in a Privacy Policy Generator - Termageddon Why accessibility is important when it comes to cookie consent - Termageddon 09:15 Does scrolling to the bottom and pretending to read terms work? 10:49 Do people ever read the terms of service? 15:57 Do companies ever actually get in trouble for violating privacy? 20:06 What is GDPR and the impact on small business owners? 32:30 Cookie war and pop ups 35:40 Essential cookies 42:42 Alternatives to Google Analytics The Google Analytics alternative without compromise - Fathom Analytics Self-hosted website analytics | Ackee 43:39 Denying cookies, but still able to create accounts? 48:57 Is there legal concerns with AI? Can ChatGPT (AI) write your Privacy Policy? - Termageddon 56:25 What is Termageddon? 58:59 SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ××× ××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ××× EPIX From TV Series Tweet us your tasty treats Scott's Instagram LevelUpTutorials Instagram Wes' Instagram Wes' Twitter Wes' Facebook Scott's Twitter Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

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In this Spotlight Session, we talk with Hans Skillrud, Co-Founder of Termageddon. They make website privacy policies for agencies that automatically update as the laws change! We discuss things like:

What are privacy policy best practices?What are the differences between privacy policies, cookie policies and terms and conditions? How can you ensure you're compliant with the correct policies in your country? Donata Stroink-Skillrud is an attorney licensed in Illinois and a Certified Information Privacy Professional. She is the President and Legal Engineer behind Termageddon, a SaaS that has generated thousands of website policies and kept them up to date with changing legislation. Donata is the Chair of the American Bar Association's ePrivacy Committee, SciTech Liaison to the ABA Cybersecurity Legal Task Force and Chair of the Chicago Bar Association's Privacy and Cybersecurity Committee. Donata gives listeners actionable tips on: [2:10] Best practices when it comes to privacy policies [4:25] The difference between terms and conditions, cookies and privacy policies [7:10] The standards when it comes to cookie policies  [13:05] Why you should never copy and paste someone else's privacy policy  [15:40] What's at risk when you don't have the correct privacy policies in place [22:10] Donata's book review Resources mentioned in this episode:The Everything Store by Brad StoneConnect with Donata here: Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Facebook https://termageddon.com/  Connect with me Instagram Pinterest Facebook Twitter Karin on Twitter Karin on LinkedIn Conroy Creative Counsel on Facebook https://conroycreativecounsel.com 

What are privacy policy best practices? What are the differences between privacy policies, cookie policies and terms and conditions?  How can you ensure you're compliant with the correct policies in your country?  Donata Stroink-Skillrud is an attorney licensed in Illinois and a Certified Information Privacy Professional. She is the President and Legal Engineer behind Termageddon, a SaaS that has generated thousands of website policies and kept them up to date with changing legislation. Donata is the Chair of the American Bar Association's ePrivacy Committee, SciTech Liaison to the ABA Cybersecurity Legal Task Force and Chair of the Chicago Bar Association's Privacy and Cybersecurity Committee.   Donata gives listeners actionable tips on: [2:10] Best practices when it comes to privacy policies [4:25] The difference between terms and conditions, cookies and privacy policies [7:10] The standards when it comes to cookie policies  [13:05] Why you should never copy and paste someone else's privacy policy  [15:40] What's at risk when you don't have the correct privacy policies in place [22:10] Donata's book review Resources mentioned in this episode: The Everything Store by Brad Stone Connect with Donata here: Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Facebook https://termageddon.com/  Connect with me Instagram Pinterest Facebook Twitter Karin on Twitter Karin on LinkedIn Conroy Creative Counsel on Facebook https://conroycreativecounsel.com 

What are privacy policy best practices? What are the differences between privacy policies, cookie policies and terms and conditions?  How can you ensure you're compliant with the correct policies in your country?  Donata Stroink-Skillrud is an attorney licensed in Illinois and a Certified Information Privacy Professional. She is the President and Legal Engineer behind Termageddon, a SaaS that has generated thousands of website policies and kept them up to date with changing legislation. Donata is the Chair of the American Bar Association's ePrivacy Committee, SciTech Liaison to the ABA Cybersecurity Legal Task Force and Chair of the Chicago Bar Association's Privacy and Cybersecurity Committee.   Donata gives listeners actionable tips on: [2:10] Best practices when it comes to privacy policies [4:25] The difference between terms and conditions, cookies and privacy policies [7:10] The standards when it comes to cookie policies  [13:05] Why you should never copy and paste someone else's privacy policy  [15:40] What's at risk when you don't have the correct privacy policies in place [22:10] Donata's book review Resources mentioned in this episode: The Everything Store by Brad Stone Connect with Donata here: Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Facebook https://termageddon.com/  Connect with me Instagram Pinterest Facebook Twitter Karin on Twitter Karin on LinkedIn Conroy Creative Counsel on Facebook https://conroycreativecounsel.com 

Welcome to another episode of the Profitable Web Designer Podcast where we're committed to helping web designers stop undercharging, over-delivering, overworking and create profitable, sustainable web design businesses.   I'm your host, Shannon Mattern, founder of the Web Designer Academy where we teach the business side of running a web design business, and today I'm talking with the Co-Founder of Termageddon, Hans Skillrud. He educates web designers and agencies about website policies including privacy policies, cookie policies and all the policies you may be avoiding and not giving much thought to.  “You have to have a strategy to keep up to date with the ever changing privacy law landscape over time.” -Hans Skillrud  In this episode we're discussing why privacy policies are important to your business and how they can help you expand your level of service. 3 compelling takeaways from my conversation with Hans that will elevate the services you provide to your clients:   Providing website policies protects your agency and puts the responsibility on your client  Solving a seemingly minor problem with major impact to your client adds value to your designer-client relationship  Embracing the website policy conversation with your client builds trust and potentially increases your business revenue    Hans shares his website design journey and his experience agreeing to client requests he didn't know how to do. His story is such a valuable lesson in how we can approach solving valuable problems for clients even when you haven't developed that particular skill.   Learning new skills as you work is totally legit. We discuss ways to be transparent with your client and get paid for it at the same time. Having resources like Termageddon in your toolkit can give you more ways to service your clients unforeseen needs and create a new recurring revenue stream for your business.  “If you know you can go help someone with their business, you're gonna have a very thankful person ultimately.” -Hans Skillrud  Follow Hans Skillrud:  Han's Website: https://termageddon.com/   Twitter: https://twitter.com/termageddon   Love the show? Tap here to leave us a rating and review!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rob Cairns talks to Hans and Donata Skillrud about privacy policies and Termageddon. Show Highlights: Why privacy policies matter. GDPR, California and Canada. Why you must have a privacy policy. What is Terrmageddon?

Selling a big-ticket website is exciting. However, after the income is spent... you are out of money again. One of the major ways to combat that is to build Monthly Recurring Revenue (MMR). We will explore several ways to increase monthly recurring revenue to your web design endeavors. Hosts Present: Tim Strifler – Tim's Divi Plugins / Divi Popup Module Sarah Oates – Endure Web Studios / FB / @endureweb Eric Dingler – In Transit Studios / Coastal City Creative / https://diviagencycoach.com/ Resources Mentioned: Reviewly: https://get.reviewly.io/ Moz: https://moz.com/ Termageddon: https://termageddon.com/ GoHighLevel: https://www.gohighlevel.com/ Follow us on Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/divichatpodcast/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/divichatpodcast/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/divichat/ Website: https://divi.chat/ Leave a (5 ⭐) Review: https://ratethispodcast.com/divichat Join us Live on Youtube or Facebook every Tuesday @ ☀️ 2 pm Los Angeles ⛅️ 5 pm New York

Selling a big-ticket website is exciting. However, after the income is spent... you are out of money again. One of the major ways to combat that is to build Monthly Recurring Revenue (MMR). We will explore several ways to increase monthly recurring revenue to your web design endeavors. Hosts Present: Tim Strifler – Tim's Divi Plugins / Divi Popup Module Sarah Oates – Endure Web Studios / FB / @endureweb Eric Dingler – In Transit Studios / Coastal City Creative / https://diviagencycoach.com/ Resources Mentioned: Reviewly: https://get.reviewly.io/ Moz: https://moz.com/ Termageddon: https://termageddon.com/ GoHighLevel: https://www.gohighlevel.com/ Follow us on Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/divichatpodcast/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/divichatpodcast/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/divichat/ Website: https://divi.chat/ Leave a (5 ⭐) Review: https://ratethispodcast.com/divichat Join us Live on Youtube or Facebook every Tuesday @ ☀️ 2 pm Los Angeles ⛅️ 5 pm New York

When's the last time you looked at your website's privacy policy? Do you even have one? Are you automating tedious tasks like this? Our guest this week is Donata Stroink-Skillrud, founder of Termageddon, a company that automates the creation of Privacy Policies, Terms of Service and more, and keeps those automatically updated on your site as your website and regulations change. We talk about how Termageddon helps to cover your bases legally-speaking, and why you, as a firm owner of any size, should even care. But more broadly, we have a great conversation about how attorneys should be using technology to automate and create iterative processes for their practices.  We want to automate the least valuable and most annoying work, but also as a safety net to ensure high-level service and ensure your firm's standards are consistently met. Check out Termageddon's very cool privacy bill tracker here: https://termageddon.com/us-privacy-bill-tracker/ Find Donata on Twitter at https://twitter.com/DonataSkillrud or on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/donata-stroink-skillrud/ ----- FiveStarCounsel.com Get our FREE client service whitepaper! Join the Five Star Counsellors FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1575616019297055 Here's a link for you to get 20% off your first year of using TextExpander! - https://fivestarcounsel.com/textexpander

A lack of a unifying federal privacy law in the U.S. like the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and a growing patchwork of state regulations to keep track of, can make it tricky for your business to maintain compliance. This is exactly why we have today's guest here to help us navigate the difficult eco-system of state privacy laws. Donata Stroink-Skillrud is the President of Termageddon and the engineer behind Termageddon's policy questions and text. She is a licensed attorney and a certified information privacy professional. She often volunteers at the Illinois State Bar Association holding courses on the General Data Protection Regulation where she teaches other attorneys on the importance of privacy and what Privacy Policies should contain. Trusting Companies With Your Data Privacy and protecting your personal data has probably shown up on your radar a lot lately because of the number of merchants that have reported data breaches. Target had a huge data breach of 40 million customers back in 2013. When an event of this scale happens, you realize we can't depend on others to protect our data. It was her experience with having her own data compromised in that breach that led Donata to pursue a career in privacy law and policy. Consumers Pay the Price When there is a data breach, consumers are the ones who pay the price. Between monitoring your credit report to make sure no unauthorized lines of credit have been opened, to closing credit accounts or getting new credit cards reissued, there is a great deal of time and effort needed to mitigate the impact of the data breach. This all comes at the expense of the consumer, who has to invest their time in making all the right moves to protect themselves. The High Price on Non-Compliance for Businesses It can be costly for companies when they don't comply with privacy laws. Depending on the state, there can be huge penalties and fines at stake.  However, there is also an enormous cost involved in compliance. Having a privacy policy on your website is just the first step in compliance. Each state has their own privacy laws, so understanding those laws and making sure you comply, for many businesses, requires a full time Compliance Officer. Automating Privacy Policies At one point in her career, Donata ended up being the person that fielded all of the business privacy compliance questions, and she found that meeting the compliance standards for each state was rather repetitive.  This led to the quest for automating this repetitive process of asking the same questions and gathering the same data, and with that automation process, Termageddon was born. Business After GDPR Businesses were thrown another “privacy curveball” in 2014 when the EU passed GDPR. Today, companies don't just have to worry about privacy laws in the U.S., they now have to worry about international privacy laws. GDPR standardized the privacy laws for all the EU countries. The US has not taken that step yet, so business owners and the public must grapple with a bevy of very complex privacy laws in each state. Consenting to Privacy Policies From the consumer standpoint, it's very difficult because these state privacy laws require all these disclosures, making privacy policies really long, really difficult to read. There's a lot of information there. It's very hard for consumers to understand which privacy rights apply to whom. The privacy laws also don't explain the gray areas like how they define a resident, and when a person officially becomes a resident of a state. Pitfalls of the Patchwork Different state laws have different definitions of what it means to sell data. But some companies are saying, we don't really sell your data, but according to California's law, we do.  This makes it confusing for both businesses and consumers to understand what their privacy rights and obligations are. Links: Termageddon IAPP Committee ABA Committees Donata on LinkedIn

Podcast editors: Do you have a website? Do you know whether your website is working for or against your business? Most of us are incredibly good at podcast production and might even have some basic web design skills. But that doesn't mean that we're all experts on branding, user experience, accessibility, and more. We know that a great website can be an incredible asset for our businesses. But how can we make the most of our websites? How can we know for sure what we should include and what we should leave out? How can we know when we should just do it ourselves and when it's time to bring in a pro to help us? We don't know either... But Tara Kelly of Tansy Aster Creative does. She's a brand strategist, web developer, video and music producer, copywriter, and so much more. And she's going to be joining us to share what we need to know. We don't plan for this to be just another one of those "why you need a website" episodes. We're planning to talk about what's important to make sure you include, what you might want to leave out, common mistakes, some show-and-tell examples, and more. And, of course, if you're joining us live in the chat, you'll have your chance to share your questions so that we can do our best to make sure we're getting you exactly what you need right now. Make sure you don't miss this :) Links And Resources https://fb.watch/bPCICWs95G/ (See the website teardowns (starts at about 33 minutes in)) https://tansyaster.com (Tansy Aster) https://tansyasteraudio.com (Tansy Aster Audio) https://app.termageddon.com/?fp_ref=tansyaster (Termageddon) (get a 10% discount, qualifying purchases benefit Tara) https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/ (WCAG Guidelines) https://webaim.org/ (Web Accessibility) https://Elegantthemes.com (Elegant Themes (makers of Divi)) https://developers.google.com/web/tools/lighthouse/ (Google Lighthouse) About Tara Kelly (in her own words) Storytelling is my life, and I'm always working to get to the next level. I have a BA in Film & Digital Media from the University of California Santa Cruz, a Brand Management Certificate from Cornell University, and over a decade of professional experience working as a brand strategist + designer, web developer, video and music producer, and copywriter. Telling a damn good story is what gets me up in the morning. In my career, I've worked with nonprofits, thought leaders, multi-published authors, healthcare organizations, and organizations focused on social responsibility and sustainability. I strive to make the world a more inclusive and accessible place for all. I'm also a multi-published, award-winning author with Macmillan who is obsessed with avocados, hiking, and chasing storms. #proudlyneurodivergent Editor This episode of the Podcast Editors Mastermind was edited by Alejandro Ramirez. You can https://www.facebook.com/AleCarbono (find him on Facebook) if you're interested in talking with him about editing your show. Be a Guest If you're a podcast editor, we'd love to see if you'd be a fit for a future episode. https://podcasteditorsmastermind.com/beaguest (Fill out this form to let us know you're interested), and we'll contact you to see if it's a good fit. Your Yetis Are Daniel Abendroth | https://rothmedia.audio/ (Roth Media) Jennifer Longworth | https://bourbonbarrelpodcasting.com/ (Bourbon Barrel Podcasting) Carrie Caulfield Arick | https://yayapodcasting.com/ (YaYa Podcasting) Bryan Entzminger | https://toptieraudio.com/ (Top Tier Audio) About the Podcast Editors Mastermind The Podcast Editors Mastermind is for professional podcast editors who want to grow their business and get more clients. We're creating a community of like-minded professionals that are passionate about the art and science of editing podcasts. Our goal is to help you build your business by providing tools, resources, and support so you can focus on what...

The founders of Termageddon (the go to software for auto-updating website privacy policies), Hans and Donata, join us for this breaking news episode to shed some light on what the heck is going on with Google, Privacy, the lawsuits with the European Union and Google Analytics and more.In This Episode00:00 - Introduction03:03 - Greeting to Hans & Donata04:23 - What is Termageddon07:10 - Current event summary08:53 - What is GDPR10:11 - How does it apply to you19:19 - A compliant alternative22:58 - Consequences27:56 - A developer pain-point 32:36 - Why is Google scared41:42 - EU, UK & US48:21 - When tracking seems odd52:13 - Your responsibility not fault54:18 - Privacy forward thinking56:13 - Cookies1:00:47 - Increased enforcementGet all links, resources and show notes at:https://joshhall.co/169

This episode is all about the tools and platforms I recommend using to run your business. Anneliese goes through all these now right before the holiday week to help you save a couple of $$$ for your business. All the links to the tools & platforms are below. Tools & Platforms Mentioned in The Episode: Laptop Stand: https://amzn.to/3DEai0k MVMT Bluelight Glasses: https://www.mvmt.com/womens-everscroll/ Amazon Bluelight Glasses: https://amzn.to/3kSk0oD PTC Episode - 6 Tools I Use To Run My Business Efficiently: https://anchor.fm/per-the-contract/episodes/6-Tools-I-Use-To-Run-My-Business-Efficiently-e15moht HoneyBook: http://share.honeybook.com/aptomedia Flodesk: https://flodesk.com/c/F4F66X Newsletter Sign Up: https://view.flodesk.com/pages/5fe4f6aeeb64c23ae6fb8ea7 Asana: https://asana.com/ EverHour: https://everhour.com/ Calendly: https://calendly.com/ Canva: https://partner.canva.com/c/2361245/647168/10068 Adobe Creative Cloud: https://www.adobe.com/ Quickbooks: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/ Loom: https://www.loom.com/ Grammerly: https://www.grammarly.com/ Anchor: https://anchor.fm/ Frame.io: https://www.frame.io/ Epidemic Sounds: https://www.epidemicsound.com/ Termageddon: https://app.termageddon.com?fp_ref=aptomedia SiteGround: https://www.siteground.com/index.htm?afcode=bd9b7bfd7f9a152ccd22a584ae9aa879 Elementor: https://elementor.com/

This week's WordPress news for the week commencing Monday 25th October 2021

So... you build WordPress websites and you love it. You know what you don't love? Policies. Admit it, you don't do you? The last thing that you want to be spending your time on is ensuring that you've got all your websites, and those of your clients, up-to-date with the latest policies. The reason for this is pretty obvious. You're the website building expert, but you're not a legal expert... well, you're not likely to be. Step up Termageddon to make all this go away! On the podcast today we learn about how Termageddon can make all of your legal dramas go away with their easy to use service. Check out the podcast...

So... you build WordPress websites and you love it. You know what you don't love? Policies. Admit it, you don't do you? The last thing that you want to be spending your time on is ensuring that you've got all your websites, and those of your clients, up-to-date with the latest policies. The reason for this is pretty obvious. You're the website building expert, but you're not a legal expert... well, you're not likely to be. Step up Termageddon to make all this go away! On the podcast today we learn about how Termageddon can make all of your legal dramas go away with their easy to use service. Check out the podcast...

So... you build WordPress websites and you love it. You know what you don't love? Policies. Admit it, you don't do you? The last thing that you want to be spending your time on is ensuring that you've got all your websites, and those of your clients, up-to-date with the latest policies. The reason for this is pretty obvious. You're the website building expert, but you're not a legal expert... well, you're not likely to be. Step up Termageddon to make all this go away! On the podcast today we learn about how Termageddon can make all of your legal dramas go away with their easy to use service. Check out the podcast...

So... you build WordPress websites and you love it. You know what you don't love? Policies. Admit it, you don't do you? The last thing that you want to be spending your time on is ensuring that you've got all your websites, and those of your clients, up-to-date with the latest policies. The reason for this is pretty obvious. You're the website building expert, but you're not a legal expert... well, you're not likely to be. Step up Termageddon to make all this go away! On the podcast today we learn about how Termageddon can make all of your legal dramas go away with their easy to use service. Check out the podcast...

From Raleigh, North Carolina... A tech tip about getting a discount on Clear identity verification for frequent travelers who want to save a few minutes at the airport. Some concise advice on thinking about small problems you can solve for clients at scale as a way to create new revenue streams for your practice (with a service we use - Termageddon - as an example)

Bill Burnett & Dave Evans talk about their book, Designing Your Life, and share with us tips on taking charge and designing the life you want to live If today's podcast resonates with you and you haven't read The Small Firm Roadmap yet, get the first chapter right now for free! Thanks to Termageddon, TextExpander, Postali, and Rankings.io for sponsoring this episode.

Bill Burnett & Dave Evans talk about their book, Designing Your Life, and share with us tips on taking charge and designing the life you want to live If today's podcast resonates with you and you haven't read The Small Firm Roadmap yet, get the first chapter right now for free! Thanks to Termageddon, TextExpander, Postali, and Rankings.io for sponsoring this episode.

Bill Burnett & Dave Evans talk about their book, Designing Your Life, and share with us tips on taking charge and designing the life you want to live If today's podcast resonates with you and you haven't read The Small Firm Roadmap yet, get the first chapter right now for free! Thanks to Termageddon, TextExpander,  Postali, and Rankings.io for sponsoring this episode.

From Raleigh, North Carolina - A tech tip about getting a discount on Clear identity verification for frequent travelers who want to save a few minutes at the airport and some concise advice on thinking about small problems you can solve for clients at scale as a way to create new revenue streams for your practice (with a service we use - Termageddon - as an example)

In this episode of Reverse Engineered, Jon Penland introduces Donata Stroink-Skillrud, President at Termageddon and the vice-chair of The Privacy Committee of the American Bar Association.Donata explains why companies need privacy policies and emphasizes the risks if businesses don't comply with the law. She also talks about Termagedoon's services, including the advisory.As a business owner, Donata faces many challenges, so she reveals ways of dealing with them. tune in to hear Donata's story!Check out all show notes and the video version of this episode at https://kinsta.com/podcast/privacy-conscious-hosting-provider

Labster Mike Howard talks about how he is using the traits we teach in The Small Firm Roadmap to grow and improve his criminal defense firm.  If today's podcast resonates with you and you haven't read The Small Firm Roadmap yet, get the first chapter right now for free! Thanks to Termageddon, TextExpander, Postali, and  Rankings.io for sponsoring this episode.

Labster Mike Howard talks about how he is using the traits we teach in The Small Firm Roadmap to grow and improve his criminal defense firm. If today's podcast resonates with you and you haven't read The Small Firm Roadmap yet, get the first chapter right now for free! Thanks to Termageddon, TextExpander, Postali, and Rankings.io for sponsoring this episode.

Labster Mike Howard talks about how he is using the traits we teach in The Small Firm Roadmap to grow and improve his criminal defense firm. If today's podcast resonates with you and you haven't read The Small Firm Roadmap yet, get the first chapter right now for free! Thanks to Termageddon, TextExpander, Postali, and Rankings.io for sponsoring this episode.

This week's WordPress news - Covering The Week Commencing 3rd May 2021

More and more every day, you need privacy policies on your web site. These requirements change every day. How can you possibly stay legal and up to date? The quick answer: You pretty much can't. That's where Termageddon comes in. Host Karl interviewed Hans & Donata Skillrud from Termageddon. Termageddon aggregates privacy policies and generates valid privacy policy text based on your business and location. When the law changes, so do the policies, keeping your company protected and allowing you to focus on more important things. Find our more at www.termageddon.com. We dig into the details here. Guest info: Donata and Hans are the cofounders of Termageddon. Donata is a licensed attorney and a certified information privacy professional. She also serves as the Vice Chair of the American Bar Association's ePrivacy Committee and has provided insights to governing bodies on how to write privacy laws. Hans is a former small business agency owner, who sold his 12 person company in 2019 to focus all of his attention on Termageddon. Outside of work, you can catch Hans and Donata hiking, gardening, or beekeeping. Termageddon is a generator of policies for websites and applications. Web site: https://termageddon.com -- -- -- Sponsor Memo: MSPs do battle daily against cyber hostilities such as ransomware attacks and data breaches. Fight smarter. Call in the cavalry. Gatekeeper from Calyptix Security is here. Reduce stress and implement proper safeguards — as advised by the FBI, NSA and DHS — with Calyptix’s purpose-built solution for small businesses. Zero Trust access secures RDP and SSH connections with two-factor authentication. There’s no need for open ports to the internet, client installs, or VPN. Plus, you’ll enjoy audit-friendly access across all types of devices. Learn more at https://calyptix.com/gatekeeper.  :-)

Counselor, author, and speaker, Rachel Ann Dine, talks to us about anxiety, high achieving personalities, and how to find a balance with it all. If today’s podcast resonates with you and you haven’t read The Small Firm Roadmap yet, get the first chapter right now for free! Thanks to Termageddon, SweetProcess, TextExpander, Postali, and ESQ.Marketing for sponsoring this episode.

Counselor, author, and speaker, Rachel Ann Dine, talks to us about anxiety, high achieving personalities, and how to find a balance with it all. If today's podcast resonates with you and you haven't read The Small Firm Roadmap yet, get the first chapter right now for free! Thanks to Termageddon, SweetProcess, TextExpander, Postali, and ESQ.Marketing for sponsoring this episode.

Counselor, author, and speaker, Rachel Ann Dine, talks to us about anxiety, high achieving personalities, and how to find a balance with it all. If today's podcast resonates with you and you haven't read The Small Firm Roadmap yet, get the first chapter right now for free! Thanks to Termageddon, SweetProcess, TextExpander, Postali, and ESQ.Marketing for sponsoring this episode.

The Digital Battlefield podcast is interviewing Hans Skillrud, a developer and co-founder of Termageddon; the auto-updating privacy policy solution. Website: https://termageddon.com/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/realbuildingblocks/support

We talk to Hans Skillrud about privacy and Termageddon

Privacy Policies and Terms & Conditions clauses can be intimidating, but they don't have to be! In this episode of Divi Chat, we discuss who needs a Privacy Policy on their website and why. The answers may surprise you - it's more than just fear of being sued! Check out the full video to learn how Termageddon's service can keep your site (and your clients' sites!) up to date with legal changes. Hosts present: Stephanie Hudson - https://focuswp.co/ Tim Strifler - https://divilife.com Tammy Grant - https://brandelemental.com/ Hans and Donata from Termageddon - https://termageddon.com/ Follow us on Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/divichatpodc... Twitter: https://twitter.com/divichatpodcast Website: http://divi.chat/ Where to Listen: iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/d... Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5UwghkH... YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/divichat Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/Icjg3... Google Podcasts: https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=... SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-670805739 Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/divi-chat FeedBurner: http://feeds.feedburner.com/DiviChat Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/toM6 Castbox: https://castbox.fm/x/13d2P Divi Facebook Groups: Divi Theme Users - https://www.facebook.com/groups/DiviT... Divi Theme Help & Share - https://www.facebook.com/groups/DiviH... Divi Web Designers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/diviw... Divi Designers & Developers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1405038489818867/ Divi Theme Examples (+ Extra Too) - https://www.facebook.com/groups/divit... Divi Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/ElegantThemesUserCommunity/ Divi Freelancers for Hire - https://www.facebook.com/groups/divifreelancers/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE9HOclPq0E

Privacy Policies and Terms & Conditions clauses can be intimidating, but they don't have to be! In this episode of Divi Chat, we discuss who needs a Privacy Policy on their website and why. The answers may surprise you - it's more than just fear of being sued! Check out the full video to learn how Termageddon's service can keep your site (and your clients' sites!) up to date with legal changes. Hosts present: Stephanie Hudson - https://focuswp.co/ Tim Strifler - https://divilife.com Tammy Grant - https://brandelemental.com/ Hans and Donata from Termageddon - https://termageddon.com/ Follow us on Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/divichatpodc... Twitter: https://twitter.com/divichatpodcast Website: https://divi.chat/ Where to Listen: iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/d... Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5UwghkH... YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/divichat Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/Icjg3... Google Podcasts: https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=... SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-670805739 Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/divi-chat FeedBurner: http://feeds.feedburner.com/DiviChat Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/toM6 Castbox: https://castbox.fm/x/13d2P Divi Facebook Groups: Divi Theme Users - https://www.facebook.com/groups/DiviT... Divi Theme Help & Share - https://www.facebook.com/groups/DiviH... Divi Web Designers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/diviw... Divi Designers & Developers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1405038489818867/ Divi Theme Examples (+ Extra Too) - https://www.facebook.com/groups/divit... Divi Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/ElegantThemesUserCommunity/ Divi Freelancers for Hire - https://www.facebook.com/groups/divifreelancers/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE9HOclPq0E

Data privacy laws are changing rapidly and vary all around the world. In this episode, Hans Skillrud and Donata from Termageddon join the show to talk about how agencies can help their clients stay on top of the laws and add some recurring revenue at the same time.  Resources mentioned in the episode Get your […]

Privacy is suddenly something everyone is talking about, and as a small or medium-sized property management company, you might not think you have to worry too much about it. After all, you're not Facebook. You're not Google. Why would privacy for property management companies be important for you? But, you do collect information from people, […] The post Debunking Privacy Myths for Property Management Companies with Hans Skillrud and Donata Kalnenaite of Termageddon appeared first on Fourandhalf Marketing Agency for Property Managers.

How to sell privacy policies to customers with Hans Skillrud from Termageddon *** Termageddon: https://termageddon.com/   This week I'm talking to Hans from Termageddon! Hans and I met in April at the Agency Transformation Live event and turns out he has a SICK business selling website policies with his business Termageddon.   Hans is going to take us through his method for selling privacy policies as well as a ton of epic sales tactics (he has a strong background in sales) and some of the lessons he's learned from setting up, running and selling his agency buildthis.com.   Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/_KI_1mPu-fc   Termageddon: https://termageddon.com/ The blog: https://sellyourservice.co.uk/blog/ The Facebook Group: http://bit.ly/2VX3XYA How To Build A Profitable Successful Marketing Funnel Business: http://bit.ly/2McuCMw  

On a recent episode of The New Marketing Show featuring our partners over at Termageddon, we went over privacy policies and how increasingly important of it is to keep your site updated. With new laws being introduced and varying from state-to-state, make sure you are working with a trusted vendor to keep things current.

On this week's special episode, Kevin talks with the founders of an innovative new platform for keeping your company up-to-date with the changing laws surrounding privacy policies & terms and conditions. Donata Kalnenaite and Hans Skillrud discuss how their company, Termageddon, works with brands to automatically update these policies when laws change. They also talk about the history behind their company and essential information concerning state-wide laws plus more.